Two Eds and an Ex-con
by Hetalia Red
Summary: Sequel to Two Eds and a Bro. Four years after Matthew was imprisoned, he becomes eligible for parole and moves in with Edd and Eddy. Due to Eddy's heavy work schedule, Edd ends up being the one that has to become responsible for the lazy and mentally unstable man and faces old feelings for him that he had buried four years ago. BroEdd and EddEddy with hints of other pairings.
1. Duty Calls

A/N: I don't own Bro (Matthew), Eddy, or some of the other characters. They are owned by Danny Antonucci and AKA Cartoon. I do own the original characters of the story though. I don't make any money from writing this story either. Be sure to read Two Eds and a Bro if you haven't yet. Also, check out the ongoing prequel "A Clockwork Bro" as well. Hope you enjoy the story.

The prison Eddy entered had very bland décor. The cement walls clashed with the bleach-smelling white tiles. The prison had not even bothered to add in a couple of throw rugs or generic paintings in the waiting room he sat in. The chairs, themselves, were also uncomfortable and were a grayish blue color. Old magazines sat on wooden tables. The only things that hung from the walls were certificates over the condition of the prison. It was as if the prison interior designer was trying to make Eddy and other prison guests as uncomfortable as possible.

He wore a visitors ID that hung from a string around his neck. He idly read one of the financial magazines as he waited for prison staff to allow him to see his own brother. He had not talked Matthew in about four years ever since Matthew was arrested for attacking Sasha in Sasha's own bar. Eddy has not even seen Matthew ever since the turbulent trial where Matthew's past trauma as a child was presented as evidence of Matthew's own instability for everyone in the courtroom to hear, including Matthew's and Eddy's own parents.

While his parents were already extremely stressed over the trial, the first day that Matthew's attorney brought forth evidence that Matthew's past trauma contributed towards the crime, his parents' health took a downturn for the worse. Margaret, he and Matthew's mother, was inconsolable. Carl, he and Matthew's father, spent hours after trial dates hunched over toilet, dry heaving. Matthew was molested by a registered sex offender and kept his silence for fourteen years. His parents had to sit in the courtroom, listening to every horrible detail. It was like sitting in a rape trial where no rapist was present in order to be charged. Matthew was the one on trial over his and his lawyer's claims that Matthew had a psychotic break from reality.

Eddy's parents were the reason why Eddy was sitting in the waiting room of the prison. His parents were too old to care for Matthew. Their health is not what it once was, which is why Eddy's dad gave him the car lot. He had to break the news to Matthew, even though he had not told Edd yet. He was going to wait as long as possible to avoid telling Edd the news.

The police escorted him to a short white room with brick walls, a steel chair, and a TV monitor that sat on top of a wooden table. His brother was on the other side of the screen in orange garb with two prison guards right behind him. Matthew had his sleeves rolled up, showing a cobra tattoo that had extraordinary detail done to the tattoo.

"Hiya, Bro," Eddy greeted, "seems like you have been working out quite a bit, your arms are toned as hell."

"I'm given an hour a day for exercise and I don't miss leg day. I had to do something to keep myself from getting bored," Matthew explained. "Though, I only have one more week to deal with this hellhole before I'm released. It's about damn time if you ask me."

"That's actually I came." Eddy replied, "Mom and Dad's health is not what it used to be. Mom had a heart attack a year ago and Dad's not doing too well either. You're going to stay with me and parole out of my house. Sockhead or I can take you to your appointments and part of your Social Security can go towards helping us with the bills."

A couple of weeks ago, Matthew was found eligible for Social Security Disability. He was left crippled when Kevin had stabbed Matthew in the back when Matthew attacked Kevin's cousin, Sasha. Due to the injury, Matthew could not do very much heavy lifting or over an hour of strenuous tasks. Matthew pretty much had the same issues that Sasha had when he was stabbed in the back by Matthew. Combined with Matthew's mental illness, he was able to get it without too much of a problem, but he would not receive his first check until a month after he gets released from prison. Matthew and his lawyer had fought the issue for a year and finally got it.

"Oh, so you and Princess live together?" Matthew's tone was strangely pleasant. Eddy wondered if Matthew moved on from his lustful yearnings for Eddy's current boyfriend. He hoped so. He did not want to deal with his brother hounding after Edd again.

"Yes, Sockhead's my boyfriend, duh!" Eddy responded, hoping that Matthew takes a hint without getting pissed. Matthew seemed strangely calm though. The short man wondered if it was due to the medications the prison staff had put him on.

"So when was the last time you fucked him?" That was the next question that came from Matthew. It really irked Eddy on how casually Matthew asked that – in a prison of all places.

"Bro, that ain't a question you should be asking your own little brother! Sheesh!" Eddy complained.

"So how long has it been?" Matthew repeated. Eddy could hear the hint of perverse amusement from his brother's voice. Eddy growled in annoyance. The gall of Matthew to ask something like that – So what he has not been able to sleep with Edd? It's none of Matthew's business anyway.

"It's been a while," Eddy admitted, "work has been hectic for me and I just haven't felt up to it."

"How long is a while?" Matthew asked, amused.

"Gee, I don't even fucking know. Eight months maybe? With my work schedule, I haven't had the time to spend with him. It just blows right now." Eddy admitted. He needed to get some things off of his chest and vent, even if it was to the most untrustworthy person in Eddy's life. Ed was too, well, he was Ed. His parents and Edd did not need to know all of the problems that were going on with the car lot at the moment.

Eddy had seen a strange glint in Matthew's eyes that he did not want to know the reason for. "So what's this I hear about Lucas being the co-owner to dad's car lot?"

"It's only temporary until things at work improve," Eddy then pouted, "I can't believe Lucas told you about the car lot!" He heard his brother snicker at his pouting. "Anyway, it does not matter. I just wanted to tell you what was going on and catch up with you." They talked for a while regarding how much Matthew's girls have grown and what their parents were up to. The whole visit was a nice visit overall.

Once Eddy got back to the house, he made his way straight to his and Edd's bed and collapsed on it. The house once belonged to Edd's parents, but when the two were declared legally died, the house went to Edd. The two lived in the house together since they graduated high school. They were so excited to have a house to themselves that there was not a room in the house that was unchristened by end of the first week.

Now, with the long nights Eddy worked at the car lot, he was lucky to still be able to hold his head up by the time he got back home. Edd offered to take a part-time at the library in town to help with expenses, but Eddy shot down his offer. The car lot was Eddy's burden alone. All Edd knew was that the car lot was having financial issues, but Edd did not know the circumstances or the shit he had to put up with to keep the car lot. The truth was that the car lot was paid off, but he was still indebted to Lucas for it and the young millionaire expected the money paid back to him in full with interest, one way or another. Despite Lucas' sheltered upbringing, the guy acted like a stereotypical Mafioso when it came to money.

Eddy felt Edd crawl into bed with him and felt Edd's frail arms wrap around his large frame. Eddy relaxed under the touch and caressed Edd's face. He looked into Edd's face and seen the admiration within those eyes staring back at him. He quickly leaned over and pulled Edd on top of him, holding Edd against him like he was afraid to let Edd go. In a way, he was. He missed spending more time with Edd. He missed that way the Edd's touch could send away his troubles and the way he could talk to Edd about anything as old friends and lovers.

He kissed the top of Edd's head. Edd was wearing his cleaning gear over his casual clothes and smelled of bleach and Lysol. "I adore you, turtledove!" Edd whispered to him, sweetly. Eddy whispered that he loved Edd back. He could tell that the loneliness was killing Edd slowly. On the surface, it would appear that Edd was fine. Edd took care of the domestic duties and took online classes while Eddy was at work, without the sticky notes. Eddy put his foot down on that issue. The sticky notes creeped Eddy out. However, he knew that the loneliness from being home alone a lot growing up caused Edd duress, even when he was alone in the house for extended periods of time as an adult.

He knew Edd hated being left alone and felt guilty that he was the one leaving Edd home alone a lot. Ed was good about visiting Edd regularly, but since Ed found out about May's pregnancy, Ed showed up at the house less and less to help May out. Eddy couldn't really blame Ed. If the scientifically impossible happened and Eddy knocked Edd up, he would wait on Edd hand and foot to ensure that Edd was comfortable – or at least try to. Good thing life was not like one of Ed's trashy comic books or Eddy really would be in trouble.

Eddy bet that May's sisters, Marie and Lee, were both excited over the news. Ed had a mutual romantic separation with Marie and Lee two years ago. They decided that four was a crowd and Marie and Lee broke up with Ed with no hard feelings. The two Kanker sisters were each seeing someone else at the moment. Since he found out about the foursome between Ed and the Kankers back when he was just a teenager, Eddy's relationship with the Kanker sisters have improved. Marie worked at his car lot as a mechanic and Lee would show up sometimes to bring Marie lunch. He would have pleasant conversations with Marie briefly before she had to take off for the day.

He almost dozed off in the refuge of Edd arms until his cell phone went off, playing the song "Opportunities" by the Pet Shop Boys. Eddy groaned. The song was one that Lucas programmed into his cell phone to play when Lucas called him. Eddy wanted to destroy his phone within that very moment. He should have shut his phone off, but he would've risked a chance of Lucas adding more to Eddy's debt for not responding to his call.

Eddy gave Edd an apologetic look and reached over to the end table to answer the phone, gruffly telling Lucas that he would be there shortly and hit the `End' button to prevent himself from cussing Lucas out. He gently kissed Edd and let him know that he had to get back to the office. Edd was visibly disappointed by the news, but nodded his head.

"I love you, Sockhead," Eddy replied to comfort his lover. Eddy then remembered that he still had not told Edd yet about Matthew. "Can you get your old bedroom cleaned by the end of the week?"

"Yes, I suppose I can," Edd nodded, "why?"

"Look, Matthew is going to be staying at our house after he gets released. He didn't have anywhere else to parole out to and I volunteered to let him stay with me." Eddy lifted up his cell phone to get the time. "Shit, I have to get to work."

"Wait a minute . . . Eddy?" Edd tried to gather his thoughts after being dealt a bombshell. "We haven't discussed this! Wait a minute!"

"Can't talk, Sockhead. Duty calls." Eddy gathered up his work supplies and headed out of the room and down the stairs.

"Eddy-" Edd seemed at a loss for words. Eddy quickly exited out the door to avoid an argument. He already had enough on his plate already. He could only hope that Edd would appreciate his efforts in time.


	2. The Room

Edd was still irritated that Eddy agreed to let Matthew stay at their house without even consulting him on the matter. Eddy might pay the bills, but Edd was the one who owned the house and maintained it. They had an equal partnership, didn't they? Edd's old bedroom would take at least a week of neglecting other duties just to finish in time for Matthew to come home. His old bedroom looked like a storage unit at the moment and he needed a lot of help.

Edd was able to get a few people to agree to help him with the room. Sasha showed up first at the house. Despite what Matthew had done, Sasha was still on good terms with both Eddy and Edd. Since Sasha still had back problems from getting stabbed in the back by Matthew as a teenager, he would not be doing any lifting nor would Edd dare to take a chance of Sasha getting hurt. Sasha brought his employee Hiroshi to help Edd with the junk in Edd's old bedroom. Sasha and Hiroshi had a low-key relationship in which they flirted with each other constantly, but never admitted to being romantically intimate, possibly due to their employer/employee relationship at Sasha's bar, `The Fuzzy Peach.' They even flirted when they first arrived to Edd's house with Sasha winking suggestively at his employee and letting the Japanese man know that he would make it worth his while when they get home later. Sasha did not seem to mind that he was asked to basically help Edd make a room for the person that terrorized Sasha for years.

"I want to thank you and Hiroshi for coming out to help me," Edd replied, "it really means a lot to me."

"It's not a problem." Sasha replied. Sasha's cell rang and Sasha quickly answered it, motioning for Edd to give him a minute. "Hey 'cuz! You're on speaker phone."

"Hey Sasha. What are you up to?" Kevin's voice came from the speaker. By the sound of it, Kevin was calling from the car lot. Kevin was one of the three employees that worked under Eddy at the car lot. The other two were Marie and Ed.

"I'm about to help dust for Double D here. You-know-who is about to be released in a week and I wanted to help Double D on my day off." Sasha explained.

"Why isn't Smithers out there helping you?" Kevin asked his cousin. Edd blinked, who Kevin was calling `Smithers'? He soon got his answer when Kevin continued his angry rant. "I mean, the only thing he's doing is filing his nails, reading some stupid book, and hogging up the radio! Marie, Dork, and I got work coming out of our ass and the paperwork Dorky's been doing today is the size of the Eiffel tower."

Now he had a clue of who Sasha was talking Kevin was talking about. If Lucas was that much of a burden, why wasn't he fired? Why would Lucas take a secretary job, especially a job that the shiftless wealthy man possibly considered beneath him? There are some things that just did not add up. More than likely, Eddy lied to him and Edd felt hurt that Eddy was choosing to keep secrets from him.

"I honestly don't know, 'cuz." Sasha replied, honestly, "We're still waiting for Seth and his cousin to arrive to help."

"You mean that bastard with the tattoos that showed up to that psycho's trial?" Kevin asked, "Why are you even there? I mean your back is fucked up and you were attacked by the psycho four years ago and now you're helping clear out a room for that bastard to live? That shit does not make sense!"

"I'm helping Double D, not Matthew," Sasha corrected, "it would not be fair to let him clean out the room by himself. Right now, it looks like a storage unit. You don't have to worry about me, Kevin. I'm only going to dust. I got Hiroshi here to help with the boxes. I promised to repay him back with a favor at the end of the day."

"Right, I'm sure Hiroshi appreciates a good rubdown after a long day of work!" Edd could hear Kevin chuckling at his cousin. Sasha's face turned bright red, almost red enough to rival the color of his spiked auburn locks.

"Oh hush, it's not that kind of favor," Sasha coughed, trying to gain his composure from listening to his cousin's light-hearted teasing. Edd turned to Hiroshi to gauge the foreign man's reaction to Sasha's conversation. The man had a lopsided grin and seemed like he was holding back his chuckles.

"Sure, just don't roll off the bed and bruise your arm again!" Kevin retorted, cackling mercilessly at Sasha.

"That was only that one time!" Sasha exclaimed, "I'm hanging up the phone now and leave you to deal with Smithers for the rest of the day – on your own!"

"I already have to. I'm fixing to put that whatever Days of Sodom book he keeps in his desk in the paper shredder." Kevin stated, "I don't give a fuck. Dorky is my boss, not that lazy little rich bitch."

"Don't get caught," Sasha advised. "I probably should be hanging up too. I didn't come to Double D's house just to chat away on my cell. Tell Nazz I said `hi.'"

About fifteen minutes later, Lee Kanker and Seth showed up at Edd's door. Out of the trio of friends consisting of Seth, Lucas, and Matthew, Seth was the most successful one. Seth still owned a tattoo parlor in Lemon Brook, still remained abstinent from drugs, and even had a successful marriage. Seth even had a young daughter named Raven that Edd had seen a couple of times since she were first born. Edd found Seth's situation truly remarkable.

Both were dressed for the occasion. Seth wore an old band shirt and black track pants. Lee wore cut-off blue jean shorts and a midriff-bearing top. Lee was chatting up her cousin when they were let into the house. "So there was this one drunk puke stain at mom's work who thought he was gonna get lucky with mom at the club. The fucker pulls down his pants and says `Look familiar, baby?' And mom goes, `Yeah, I totally forgot to pick up toothpicks from the store.' When the shithead got mad and thought he could push her around, Mom picked up the guy and threw him into the dumpster outside with the other sacks of garbage."

Edd shuddered at remembering the Kanker matriarch, Cynthia. The terrifying woman worked at a strip club called `Medusa's Hideaway' as a security guard. Edd had the misfortune of meeting the woman once when he was only a teenager. From what he remembered, the woman seemed like she could hold her own and was extremely overprotective of her daughters like a lioness or a mother bear. Cynthia was obviously not someone to take lightly.

Seth snickered at the tale, "how does she feel about being a grandma?" He asked, changing the subject.

"She's actually looking forward to it, surprising enough." Lee then added dryly, "it might be because she knows that the big lug isn't going anywhere. There are only a few places where he could runaway to anyway."

Edd highly doubted that Ed would abandon May while she carried his child. Ed seemed really excited over it when he first announced it to him and Eddy. Edd was also sure that Ed would stay with May and care for their child. Ed did earn a salary, working at the car lot and Ed was already taking the initiative to become a great parent. Edd was sure that Ed would do fine during the next few months as a to-be dad. After a while, Edd whistled to get their action.

"Alright, everyone," Edd spoke up, "that is quite enough confabulating. I hate to be discourteous, but I want this done as quickly as possible."

Everyone in the room was in agreement with him. Edd let out a sigh of relief and thanked each of them individually for showing up. He led them to his old bedroom and instructed them to help him move the boxes of stuff into the garbage and move Matthew's belongings that are located in the garage into the bedroom and help him organize some of the stuff. None of the group had an issue with his instructions. Edd was entirely grateful that they were willing to help him complete the exhausting task.

Hiroshi, Lee, and Seth seemed to be the strongest ones out of the group, though he was not willing to hurt Sasha just to satisfy his own curiosity about the redhead's strength or lack thereof. Edd was amazed on how much the three can lift. Seth seen Edd try to pick up one of the smaller boxes in vain and chuckled at him. Edd snorted indignantly and fold his arms like a petulant child. It was so embarrassing that he still was not able to carry as much as the average adult male.

"Hey, noodle arms," Seth grabbed the box with such grace and ease and put it on top of the large box he was already carrying, "maybe you should leave the lifting to us he-men." Seth noticed the look his cousin was giving him and added, "-and the Amazon warrior princess as well."

An Amazon warrior princess would be an understatement. The Kanker sisters' monstrous strength can only be compared to worker ants, especially when the sisters were enraged over something. Edd still vividly remembered the time the sisters destroyed the cul-de-sac just to find their prized sailboat in a bottle.

When Hiroshi carried another one of Matthew's boxes into the bedroom, Hiroshi noticed a picture that fell out of the boxes. He glanced at the picture before smirking and showing Sasha the item as Sasha was wiping down a bed frame, "he sure is full of himself, ain't he?"

"Oh for goodness sake, Hiroshi," Sasha squawked, "I really did not need to see that, especially considering that I already did years ago." Hiroshi laughed at his employer as Sasha swiped the picture away and onto the ground. "You're awful, Hiroshi!" Sasha pouted.

"What's wrong, Sasha," Seth taunted, "can't handle seeing a picture of your ex?"

"Shit," Sasha muttered. There was quite a bit of tension between Sasha and Seth. Edd could tell that they despised each other, even without them saying barely anything to each other. The tension between them was as thick as taffy. Edd was not thinking too much about hostile association between Seth and Sasha when he agreed to let them both help him. Stress had caused Edd to have a lapse of judgment there. At least the two ex-schoolmates were not at each other's throats.

Edd curiously picked up the picture and blushed when he did. The picture was of Matthew wearing only a devilish smirk on his face and leopard-print briefs. The man was laying down on his waterbed in what was probably his old trailer, propped up on his elbow like a male porn star. He quickly put it in one of the boxes and tried to erase the image from his head.

After a while, the room was all set up. The waterbed was assembled to the point where Edd would just need to fill the mattress up when he got a chance to. The man's dresser, robotic arms, a nightstand with a red lava lamp on top, the man's stereo system, and boxes of Matthew's belongings decorated what used to be Edd's old room. The room looked almost exactly like Matthew's old room, minus the blue camel and the section of the room that was made to look like a beach.

Edd remembered all of the times that Matthew penetrated him on the bed in the room and felt his pulse start to rush. He did not understand his body's physical responses one bit. He was no longer some stupid teenager who was a slave to his sexual desires. He did not want to have another sexual relationship with Matthew either. So why was his adrenaline rising like it was? Could it be his loneliness that is to blame?

The room was completely done by the time nightfall came. Several of his houseguests noticed Eddy's absence and commented on it. Edd feigned indifference and decided to fix his guests homemade pizza and cookies to thank them for their help. Eventually after the group had consumed their dinners, they left the house to go back home. Seth's wife and daughter had picked Seth and Lee up. Seth's wife joked playfully with him and Seth's daughter hovered around the Seth's leg, beaming at her father. Seth and his wife would have looked like any other couple if the two adults were not heavily tattooed. The family unit had left with Seth letting his daughter ride on his shoulders.

A/N: If any of you are curious about the book that Lucas was reading, do a Google search. Also please rate and review if you can. I enjoy reading those.


	3. Matthew is Back

The day that Edd dreaded was upon him. Matthew was due to be released. Eddy took a day off and was driving to pick up a custom cake for Matthew. Seth was tasked with picking up Matthew straight from the prison and Lucas' whereabouts was a mystery to the twenty year old. He laid down on the waterbed in Matthew's bedroom after filling it; his stomach was tied up in knots over what can occur once Matthew shows up.

The feeling of the black covers underneath him lulls him into a slumber until he woke up to the feeling of the bed dipping. His groaned and turned over. A nimble finger caressed his lips and his chin. Edd's fluttered open and fell upon Matthew whose eyes were roaming across Edd's body. "Well, if this isn't quite the surprise to come home to." Matthew remarked, "Could not get enough of how comfortable my bed was four years ago, sweetheart?"

"I just dosed off while I was in the process of tidying your room," Edd thrashed away from Matthew and landed on the floor with a thud. He let out a high pitch whine and scowled when he heard chuckles coming from the man that caused his to fall.

"Careful there, you might bruise your most valuable asset," Matthew quipped.

"Is there anyone else here besides you?" Edd asked, trying to steer the conversation away from being even remotely sexual.

"Seth is downstairs," Matthew replied, "He's on the phone with that wife of his to let her know that he'll be here with us until much later. Even after all these years of being married, the bitch still carries Seth's balls in her purse."

"There's nothing wrong with keeping tabs with your significant other," Edd argued.

"Really? How much do you tell Pipsqueak where you're going?" Matthew asked. Edd was not sure when Matthew got up from the bed and stood almost nose-to-nose in front of him, but he quickly stepped back to give himself some breathing room.

"I inform Eddy of my whereabouts most of the time," Edd replied and then added, "-except for the occasional supermarket run."

"-And how many times does he keep tabs with you on where he is?" Came the next question that Edd dreaded.

Edd hesitated, "sometimes-"

"You're just as whipped as Seth is," Matthew snorted. Matthew pulled out his old plaid jacket from one of the boxes and noticed the multiple holes in both of the sleeves of the plaid jacket. "Fucking moths!" Matthew opened random boxes until he was able to find a pair of scissors and cut the sleeves, leaving only a couple of inches of sleeve left on each arm. As he slid the plaid shirt over the black undershirt, a gray munchkin cat trilled and jumped on one of the boxes laid out in the room.

"Greetings, Niels Bohr! Is it time for your evening meal already?" Edd asked. The grey cat just meowed and jumped off the box. Edd named the cat after the Danish scientist as a joke from when Eddy discussed a dream he had when they were young about Edd having a cat named Niels Bohr in his twilight years.

"Get that cat out of here," Matthew commanded, "I'm not having that damn thing poke a hole in my bed!"

"Come along, Niels." Edd picked the cat up. He spared Matthew one last glance before he left. Half of the man's tattoo peered out from under the sleeve. Edd noticed the green cobra tattoo during his conversation with Matthew, but chose not to say anything about it.

When he walked downstairs, he saw Seth hanging up the phone. A large gas station foam cup was gripped in the man's hand, half full of black coffee. "Is Lucas still on his way?" Edd asked the tattooed man.

Seth nodded, "Lucas is on his way with alcohol. Has Mattie found his room okay?"

"Yeah, Matthew found his room," Edd's eyebrow furrowed when he hear about the alcohol, "What on the earth do you mean that there's going to be alcohol? Just being around the stuff is a violation of his parole."

"The parole officer has already inspected the house and he's not due to visit his parole officer until the end of the week. If Mattie wants to drink with Lucas and me for old times' sake during his first day of freedom, that's what Matthew gets." Seth explained. "I don't have to explain my motivation for not doing jack shit any more than that, do I?"

"I suppose not," Edd replied, meekly.

"Good, I have to make one more phone call," Seth grabbed up the house phone again and started to dial the number. Seth's face softened when a feminine voice answered, "Hey babe, can you put Raven on? I don't think you would have much luck getting her to bed tonight if I didn't tell her that I would be back tomorrow."

A high-pitch meow reminded Edd what he came downstairs to do. "Alright, Niels Bohr. Let's get you your dinner." Edd set the cat down and watched as the cat rushed into the kitchen as fast as its little legs could carry it. Edd strolled into the kitchen after it and put some food down for Niels and the cat head-butted Edd's legs as he scooped up some dry cat food and poured it into the cat's food dish. The cat started to consume the food greedily as Edd watched with disinterest.

Eddy came back ten minutes later, carrying in a decent-sized white cake. "One Melvin cake, no nuts, no sugar, and no dairy. You're welcome!" Eddy then yelled up the stairs, "Bro, get your ass down here and check out your cake!"

"Coming," Edd barely heard Matthew say before the man headed downstairs. "Where's the cake?" Matthew asked.

"I sat it on the counter in the kitchen," Eddy pointed. "Stupid damn bakery! It took them forever just to get the damn cake to me. Save two pieces for mom and dad. They're probably going to want some when I visit them later. They sounded less than thrilled to hear that there would be alcohol here tonight, but oh well!"

"Speaking of taking so long, Lucas still isn't back with the booze," Matthew remarked.

"He called me when I was driving," Eddy announced, "it's Superbowl weekend, so he has to wait in line along with people also buying alcohol, nachos, and everything else."

""Fucking football," Matthew cursed.

Seth chuckled, "Looks like you need to wait a bit until you can get your alcohol fix. That gives me enough to prepare myself for you either trying to pick a drunken fight with me and Lucas or you getting so drunk that you start hitting on either of us, forgetting who we are. I'm not looking forward to either of the two."

"Don't flatter yourself, Seth," Matthew retorted and pointed towards Eddy, "Even Pipsqueak here would look sexy to me when I get that fucking drunk."

Eddy's face twisted into a horrified expression and he let out a loud, resonating sound of disgust, "Ugh! What the hell Bro?"

"What's the matter, Pipsqueak?" Matthew taunted the younger sibling.

"You know, for a second I thought prison life would change you. Glad to know you're the same asshole that you've always been. That damn trial four years ago was a fucking rollercoaster," Seth admitted, "Nancy had no idea about the incident before the trial and I had to come clean to her about it. Lucas' father was at your trial as well since one of his friends in the lawyer's office told him that Lucas showed up there to make cash payments and that also led to Lucas coming clean about your case and about what had happened to him specifically. Both Nancy and Lucas' dad wanted us to file charges against you-know-who, but honestly I don't see the point. It was bad enough having all of that shit out in the open during your trial, I can't imagine sitting in a damn courtroom again, testifying before a judge with that fucker sitting in front of us. I would lose it."

"I know what you mean. Mom and Dad both were trying to get me to bring charges against that sick fucker as well, but I would rather not have everyone I know hear about him putting his damn dick in my ass again. I only rolled the dice during that damn trial was to get a bit of leniency in my sentence. I didn't think they would turn the rape and the blackouts into some kind of damn courtroom soap opera. Damn bastards." Matthew ranted. Edd and Eddy remained quiet while the two men expressed their grief over the trial.

"Sorry I brought it up, it's just that I never had a chance to vent with you over the trial," Seth apologized. "The prison you were at did not seem like the perfect place to vent at."

"Whatever, Seth. I don't care," Matthew said dismissively, "I'm just glad it's fucking over."

"Oh I have a gift for you," Seth replied, "it's used, but I think it would help keep your ass out of trouble. I just need to get it out of the back of my car. I'll be back in a minute." The room was uncomfortably quiet after Seth left to get the gift. Seth returned a minute later with a video game system and a couple of video games.

"I don't play video games and you know it," Matthew huffed. "What kind of video game system is that anyway?"

"It's a PlayStation 2. Raven used it for about a year until she had to have a red PlayStation 2. Just give this a chance. One of the games is not childish fun in the least. The game takes place in Florida during the 1980s and has you committing crimes on there. You can steal cars, shoot at people with guns, fuck prostitutes, and even go for a joyride and listen to 80s music." Seth informed.

"I didn't know they made video games like that." Matthew shrugged, "I guess I could give the game a try."

Eddy then whispered in Edd's year, "Let's ditch these two for a while." Edd was lead into their bedroom and the door was quickly shut and locked behind them. Eddy's hands roamed across Edd's torso. Edd moaned desperately as his fingers gripped Eddy's dark locks. It's been too long. It's been far too long. Eddy gently pushed Edd on top of the bed and Edd opened his legs for the short heavyset man, granting Eddy easier access to his entire body. Even as an adult, Eddy was still shorter than the average man, but that did not put a damper on Edd's desire for him. Edd's body burned for Eddy and he was going to try to get whatever he could get from that moment between them.

"Eddy, please. I want to feel you inside of me." Edd begged, pulling Eddy on top of him.

Eddy straightened himself and flashed his pearly whites at Edd, his lip curling into a grin, "don't worry, Sockhead! I'll make sure to make up for the lost time between us." Eddy whispered huskily and he began his rhythm of gently rocking his clothed body against Edd's. They both kissed as if they have not seen each other in decades.

Edd heard hard rock music being turned on from the other room, but did not play attention to the noise. Several minutes later, someone beat on their door loudly. Eddy groaned at having been interrupted. "Whatever it is, I don't care!" Eddy yelled over the stereo from the other room.

The pounding continued causing Eddy to groan again. Eddy untangled himself from Edd and got off the bed. Edd quickly got up and straightened out his clothes. Whoever was at the door was persistent. Eddy opened the door, revealing that Matthew was one that interrupted them, "Lucas is here, so hurry up and get your asses downstairs."

A/N: Since links don't work on FF, be sure to look for this story in Archive of Our Own to see a piece of art Scammychan did that was inspired by a scene in A Clockwork Bro. Also, be sure to leave a review as well.


	4. Cake Crumbs

"Man, the bands today suck," Matthew complained, gulping down rum as if the burning feeling of the liquid barely fazed him. "The groups that come out today are a bunch of dickless wonders. I mean, back in my day is was all about drugs, sex, and whooping someone's ass. Now, it's a bunch of pansies whining about how Miss Dollface would rather drink engine oil than touch them with a five foot pole. Maybe Miss December would give them at least a handy if they were not whining like big babies. Christ, someone reattach their goddamn balls. Even Stevie Nicks and Courtney Love have more balls than the groups today."

"Yeah, the groups that come out tend to focus more on -. Fuck, you're right. I'll never understand this emo bullshit. I think that's what it's called." Seth agreed, swishing around the rum in his cup.

"If you talking about the same bands I'm thinking of, the funniest thing about them is the way they look." Matthew then replied.

"Really? How so?" Lucas asked.

"They look like someone took some of the twinks from gay porn, dipped them in a tub of black dye, gave them a few music lessons, and said `go ahead and pretend to be rock stars, sweethearts! The teenyboppers would never know that your best talents are actually deep throating and getting gangbanged by several dudes.'" Matthew joked.

"Jesus Christ, Mattie. Thanks for the imagery!" Seth replied, sarcastically. "Also, thanks for sharing what's possibly in your porn collection. I think the music producers want to cash in on the alternative genre without scaring away young teenagers and their parents. Groups like Depeche Mode are too mature for young teens and parents of young teenagers still avoid most Hard Rock music like the plague. Of course, they get young-looking bands to record albums for them, because they're marketable."

"-Or the producer's did it to get their dicks sucked by twinks," Matthew snorted, "I would do the same thing if I was a music producer and I had four or five talentless eighteen year old punks who want to make it big without putting in much of an effort." Matthew noticed Lucas laughing and slapped the other twenty eight year old on the back, "quit laughing over there! The new wave and Italian Disco musicians you listen to also look like they can suck a mean dick!"

"Oh fuck you!" Lucas coughed, "is there anybody that you think doesn't look like they could suck off someone?"

"You two fuckers," Matthew answered, "it is very hard to imagine either of you two sucking dick."

"I would hope so, you perverted weirdo!" Seth retorted, looking like he was trying so hard not to laugh, "I'd knock you on your ass if you tried to bend me over like one of your little dates."

"You sure proved that four years ago when I kidnapped you two and crashed Lucas' Jeep," Matthew joked grimly. "You two wouldn't know or appreciate the difference between fucking guys and fucking women. Both genders have certain ways of turning me on. You've got to experience it to understand. Though I will say this, when I fuck chicks or dudes, it always feels like I own them after the deed is done, especially when they got my love juice in or on them."

Eddy and Edd leaned against the countertops in uncomfortable silence as they listened to the sexually charged conversation the older men were having – or rather the obscene things that came out of Matthew's mouth. The things Matthew said did not surprise Edd in the least, but it did put him in an uncomfortable spot. He was the only one in the room that Matthew knew intimately and at least three people in the room knew about it that Edd knew of, including Matthew. He fidgeted uncomfortably as he waited in dread to see what came out of Matthew's mouth next.

Matthew reached over the table and grabbed a large piece of cake with his bare hand. Crumbs trickled down onto the table in a path. Matthew consumed the large piece in one bite, only chewing the cake a couple of times before allowing the cake to pass through his gullet. Even after four years, Matthew still had terrible table manners.

"Jesus, Mattie. Did you even taste that?" Lucas exclaimed, "You must have ruined your gag reflex years ago to be able to consume that much cake in one bite."

A quick swipe of Matthew's leg sent Lucas tumbling to the floor and his chair upturned. The cake that Lucas was gingerly eating covered the front of Lucas' shirt. "What the hell was that for, you ass?" Lucas growled, rolling to his side to lift himself up, brushing the cake off of his shirt. "That wasn't even a gay joke or a fat joke."

"I don't care if it was or wasn't," Matthew grinned cruelly causing Lucas to shoot Matthew a dirty look, "I just felt like doing it."

"You alright, Lucas?" Seth asked.

Lucas nodded, "he got cake all over my new shirt!"

Eddy and Edd decided to leave the three to their own devices and turned in for the night. Eddy passed out as soon as his head hit the pillow. Edd listened to the rambunctiousness coming from downstairs, but reluctantly decided that he was better off cleaning the kitchen once Matthew and his friends' party stopped. Edd felt his blood pressure rise imagining the kind of mess the three would leave for him in the morning. The strong smell of alcohol lingers even after the smallest of spills. Not to mention the cake crumbs invite all kinds of pests into his home. Edd tossed and turned until he was able to close his eyes.

A child no older than twelve sat across from his bed, staring down at him with dark eyes. The child wore a yellow jersey, a white tee shirt under his jersey, and green slacks. The child appeared neither happy nor fearful to see him. Edd was quite alarmed to see the child there, but decided to say nothing to him. The child just sat still watching him like a vulture stalking his prey.

"What's the matter, Princess? Don't you like me?" The child asked, flashing a smirk that was too perverse to come from a child.

It was when the child started to crawl towards him that Edd put his foot down, "Go back to bed, you little mischief maker. Your own bed, please!"

The child didn't listen to a word Edd said and continued to crawl towards him. Edd was glued to the spot, unable to get away from the child. The child leaned over Edd and gripped the adult's chin with his fingers and smiled into the baffled man's face, "-but Princess, I still want you." With each syllable of the sentence, the child's voice morphed into the deep, husky voice that Edd was more familiar with.

Before things could get any weirder, Edd awoke with a jolt, the dream replayed in mind like a bad movie. The dream felt so real. He knew what Matthew both looked and sounded like at the age of twelve thanks to the home movies that Matthew kept in one of his boxes. However, that did not explain why Edd suddenly had a dream of Matthew as a child.

Edd was not even going to bother psychoanalyzing the dream's meaning. He did not want to know why his subconscious would produce such an odd dream. In more irrational and superstitious times, dreams like that would have been blamed on incubuses or witches. He could certainly understand why considering how realistic the dream was. People in those times blamed the unexplainable on the supernatural. However, Edd knew that it was just his own subconscious during REM sleep. That didn't stop the dream from being too strange, however.

Edd looked over at the clock and seen that it was three a.m. in the morning. He inhaled deeply and stretched, yawning as he slowly begun to awake. He turned over and saw that he was alone in the bed. He knew that Eddy had gotten up really early to head to work. Edd was used to Eddy doing that, but it still kind of upset him that he barely got to spend time with Eddy.

Edd arose from his spot. He was not going to sleep any time soon. He slowly made the bed, making sure the covers were straightened. Purple covers, Eddy had picked them out when they first moved into Edd's parent's old house. Edd and Eddy redecorated the house with a few items that belonged to Edd's parents, but boxed up the rest of it in an attic. The point of it was to help Edd accept that his parents are probably not returning any time soon. Edd had slowly accepted the fact, but was still worried about where they could be.

He descended down the chairs and into the kitchen. Almost gagging at the sight waiting for him, Edd muttered "messy, messy, messy." The three men responsible for the mess were passed out in the middle of the kitchen floor, reeking of frosting and alcohol. The three were covered from head to waist in vanilla frosting and cake crumbs. The floor beside them did not look any better with cake crumbs and frosting on the wooden floor, inviting troublesome pests into his home and offering them a free meal. Memories of the pests in Ed's old room caused Edd to quickly lose his breath in fear that was what his kitchen would turn into.

Edd felt his anxiety go up over the mess and quickly grabbed a broom. As he swept, he was not sure how much cake the men seemingly threw at each other. The chairs were upturned as well, which Edd grabbed with his free hand and put them back in their place. It was amazing how much of a mess three grown men could cause within just a few hours. His parents would've had an aneurism at the current state of the kitchen.

Edd swept the cake crumbs in a pile before sweeping them in a dust pan and disposing them. The broom did not pick up the frosting, so Edd would need to wash the frosting off of the floor by hand. He got a bucket of hot water and a rag and bent down on the floor on his knees. The men beside him seemed to be in a drunken stupor, so Edd had a feeling that he would not wake them up from cleaning beside them.

As Edd washed the floor by hand, he noticed that Matthew was just as filthy as the floor was. All of the men were. Edd started to wipe down Matthew's face like a mother would wash a filthy child. The man did not react to being washed. He slept on the uncomfortable floor like a rock. Once the man's face was clean, Edd noticed that Matthew's hands and stomach were also filthy. Edd quickly washed the hands that did wicked things to him before he was old enough to vote. Matthew's hands were just as rough as they had always been. Edd then turned his attention to the man's stomach. Being careful not to yank on the hair that grew by the man's navel, Edd cleaned the man carefully.

Edd blushed in realization of what he was doing. Why did he care if Matthew was clean or filthy? Edd quickly got up and emptied the bucket of hot water into the sink. Edd then boiled water in the kettle and pour himself a cup for tea. He went into the living room with his cup and stirred the teabag in the water. He hoped the herbal tea was enough to soothe him. The dream, Eddy, having to live in the same house as Matthew again, and everything else put Edd on edge. It was a good thing he was on break from college; the added pressure might have caused Edd to have a nervous breakdown. He could only hope for some kind of relief during the next couple of weeks until classes start back up.


	5. One Lousy Day

After Seth and Lucas left, Edd decided to observe Matthew in his new habitat. After being rudely awoken to music blaring in Matthew's room, Edd decided that it was the least he could do to determine how the living arrangement with Matthew would go. He still did not have a good feeling regarding the whole thing, but his hands were tied on the matter. It was just him and Matthew in the house. Lucas and Seth took off before Edd woke up. Supposedly, Seth had to see his family before work and Lucas had to get to the car lot.

One thing he did not count on was Matthew walking around, soaking wet and wearing nothing but a towel. Edd's heart sank at the sight. Worrying over his water bill increasing due to Matthew taking an hour long hot shower aside, the possibility of one of his neighbors witnessing the man walking around his house naked had left Edd mortified. What would Mr. and Mrs. McGee think if they seen their eldest son like that? Would they be surprised in the slightest? What would Ed think? Ed probably would think it's some kind of bizarre party that requires attendees to remove their clothes. Heaven forbid, what would his parents think if they seen this naked man in his living room?

"Please, for the love of all that is modest and proper, clothe yourself!" Edd beseeched.

"Hang on to your hat, Princess," Matthew snorted and grinned, "I'll get dressed once I get myself something to eat." Matthew then added lasciviously, "Besides, I don't have anything that you haven't seen before. Well, besides the tattoo." Edd sighed. That man was difficult to talk to. Then Matthew made the already uncomfortable atmosphere between them even more awkward by shedding the last bit of decency the man had and using it to dry off his hair and face.

Edd tried so hard to avert his gaze from the man's nudity, but concern over what the man might do caused him to open his eyes. Water dripped down from Matthew's chest to his stomach. A patch of soft black curls sat in the middle of Matthew's chest. A streak of black curls could be found below the man's navel. Matthew's gut still protruded from his stomach. Though that probably would never change due to the man's eating habits. Edd cursed himself for taking a glance lower. The man's bulge sat on top of black curls. If there was at least one redeeming detail about the extremely awkward situation, it was that at least Matthew was flaccid at the moment.

Edd quickly lifted his gaze towards Matthew's arms. The muscles in his arms were taut as if Matthew worked out a bit while he was prison, which seemed to be the case. There were so many questions Edd wanted to ask about Matthew's experience inside of the correctional system, but held back. Matthew probably was less than eager to share what prison is like. Edd needed to say something, say anything to keep himself from staring at Matthew too long. He was in a committed relationship with Eddy. He should not be gazing at his brother like a hormonal teenager, especially considering his past with said male. "So, when you get that form of body modification done?"

"My tattoo?" Matthew smirked, leaning over Edd, "I got it in prison three and a half years ago from Seth. Lucas bribed the guards to look away while Seth tattooed me."

Edd hyperventilated. Matthew was too close to him, much too close. He scrambled away and kept his composure despite his head racing. He couldn't let Matthew get the idea that he was easily shook up or worse, that Edd was easily swayed into having his mind wonder, at least as far as Matthew was considered. Knowing the man, if Edd was even caught giving Matthew a sideway glance, Matthew would try to take advantage of it.

Matthew was reaching for a cell phone on top of the fireplace mantel. "Whose cell phone is that?" Edd asked, quickly stepping back towards the window and closing the drapes.

"It's my new one. Lucas got it for me. It's got about 200 minutes on it. He gave it to me when you and Pipsqueak went to bed." Matthew boasted. "It even has a camera on it. I'm surprised how much cell phones have changed since I got locked up or how many people now own them."

"A lot of things can change in four years," Edd replied, he flinched when he seen Matthew throw the towel over his shoulder and onto the floor behind him. "Are you going to pick up your towel?"

"I'll do it later," Matthew shrugged and headed into the kitchen. Edd quickly grabbed the towel and stormed towards the stairs. He stomped all the way up the stairs and down the hall to the laundry chutes. He tossed the towel down the chute while chanting in his head, `don't start a confrontation with him. Calm down, Eddward! Don't start a confrontation with him! Nothing good can come out of starting one with him."

He watched as Niels Bohr snoozed in the hallway without a care in the world. He envied his cat. He glanced up towards the bathroom and realized that the floor was completely soaked. Matthew didn't even bother to clean up after himself. Edd could have tripped and fell if he tried to get into the bathroom to take a shower. Speaking of which, he better check the water temperature to see if Matthew left him any hot water. When he turned on the faucet of the bathtub, the water was ice-cold. Matthew had used up all of the hot water and Edd would need to wait at least an hour before he could shower. This was turning into one lousy day.

After Edd gotten the bathroom wiped down, he reluctantly decided to see how much of a mess Matthew may or may not have made in the kitchen. He almost had an aneurism when he stepped foot into the kitchen. Egg yolk lay splattered on the counter, contaminating it with salmonella. An egg and grease covered pan sat on top of the messy stove. Edd grit his teeth and considered calling Eddy to vent his frustrations, but decided against it. He can handle Matthew by himself. He does not need Eddy to come in and be a mediator between him and Matthew.

He scrubbed the kitchen counters and oven clean of the mess Matthew made. He had also dumped the grease into an old coffee can and sat the pan in the sink that was filled with water and dish soap to soak. Speaking of the man, Matthew sat at the kitchen table and enjoyed an egg and bacon sandwich with mustard. Edd hoped that Matthew choked on his sandwich. Edd was feeling a bit hungry as well. Edd got out an apple and sliced and peeled it for his breakfast. He ate at the kitchen island, wordlessly. He was much too irritated with the man to sit with him at the table.

Matthew got out his cell phone and dialed up the person he wanted to call. After a few rings, Lucas' voice can be heard from the other end. "Hey Mattie. Some party last night, am I right?"

"Yeah, yeah," Matthew replied, "what are you doing?"

"I'm up to my neck in paperwork," Lucas complained in a mocking voice.

Edd could faintly hear a TV in the background. Apparently he was not the only one that noticed, "since when is watching soap operas doing goddamn paperwork."

"Since I'm bored out of my skull and being a working-class secretary can be such a boring job. At least I can take a portable TV to work with me." Lucas replied. He then described the subpar plot to the soap opera episode. "Penelope is trying to figure out if she would rather fuck Ben who only has six months to live or fuck Joey who killed her sister and got away with it."

Edd became even more suspicious of Lucas' involvement with the car lot. It did not make any sense why Lucas is even there. Why didn't Eddy fire him yet? Lucas does not seem to be offering much of an effort to the business as far as Edd had heard. The only thing Lucas could even offer the business is money, but Eddy does not need money. Does he? Edd was determined to get to the bottom of that situation.

"Yeah, I could not give two shits about a show housewives watch while they get drunk on boxed wine," Matthew retorted, "I called because I need you to pick up a few things for me on your lunch hour."

"What a shock. What do you need?" Lucas asked.

"I'm going to need a hamburger and fries from some fast food joint for lunch, I don't care where. I also need a bottle of cologne, you know the kind. The cologne in my room had expired. I also need a case of energy drinks and a few more things I've got listed down." Matthew said, "Just hold on a second and I'll tell you what else I need. You better be writing this shit down." Matthew headed upstairs, leaving Edd alone in the kitchen. Edd picked up the empty plate and sat it in the sink. He'll wait to get a full load before he starts on the dishes. He filled up Niels Bohr's food and water dish which caused the cat to rush into the kitchen and launch itself towards the food dish.

Edd was able to get the rest of his daily tasks done while Matthew gotten dressed, much to Edd's relief, and laid down on the sofa in front of the TV. There is a fine line between making one's self at home and then there is acting like a general nuisance and Edd was sure that Matthew past that line at some point within the last 24 hours when he had first arrived. Edd vacuumed the area around the white leather sofa in the middle of the living room. He and Eddy first bought the sofa a few months after they graduated high school. The sofa was bought as a place for Ed and other guests to sit down while they visited. The TV and satellite cable was bought right after the sofa, due to Ed's monster movie cravings and Eddy's insistence on watching movies after a long day's work. Then they purchased the computer upstairs for Edd's schoolwork. At first Edd was hesitant of buying that many items at one time, but after two years what Edd once considered luxury items quickly became a necessity that he couldn't imagine his life without.

Edd vacuumed the area between the white sofa and the glass table. So far, Matthew had not complained about Edd blocking the TV from his view. Edd considered that a small blessing until he felt a hand hit his backside, causing him to lose balance from the impact. His ass cheeks burned from being hit and he was sure that Matthew left a bruise. Edd quickly turned around and grabbed Matthew by the front of his shirt, "Cease your foul behavior immediately!" Edd screeched indignantly.

Matthew only snorted at Edd's outburst, "chill out, Princess. It was only a love tap."

"Mellow out? You struck me, you uncivilized brute!" Edd shouted, shaking with rage. If he remembered the way Matthew acted four years when Edd and Eddy were left alone with him, it was not any different from how Matthew acted towards him now, except Matthew's alcohol abuse was more frequent four years ago.

"I did it, because I felt like it." Matthew shrugged.

"You-" Edd couldn't even form a proper sentence, he was so upset by the man's rude behavior. Edd started to wonder if Matthew did it to purposely annoy him. The front door opened and closed causing Edd to turn his scowl to whoever entered his home without the simple common courtesy to knock on the door first.

Lucas stood in the doorway with a bag of food in one hand and several store bags in the other. He viewed the scene with a smirk on his face, "am I interrupting something?" Edd let go of Matthew's shirt and scurried past the man in a fit of controllable rage. He needed a shower. He didn't care how hot or cold the water was. He needed something to improve his day.


	6. A Game of Pool

Taking a shower was enough to relax Edd's nerves. Matthew had already messed up his morning and early afternoon. Not to mention the number of times Edd had slept off and on during the night due to stress and he was still feeling fatigued. Lucas' visit was short and that just left Edd alone again in the house with Matthew.

Edd hated the situation. It felt like a heavy weight got dropped into his lap and he alone must deal with the burden. Still, it was not fair. He was younger than Matthew and still acted more mature than said man. There was also another side to him that he tried to repress through the daily chores and his own anger. He felt vulnerable to the man's advances.

"Fuck, I'm bored. I wonder if that one place is still open," Matthew pondered to himself out loud. He gathered up his wallet and headed towards the door. Edd hurried to the door and blocked it before Matthew had a chance to leave. "What's wrong, Princess? I have things to do before curfew."

"I, uh-" Edd struggled to come up with a reasonable excuse for preventing Matthew from leaving. Edd did not trust Matthew alone and any kind of trouble that Matthew caused would likely be blamed on Edd by Eddy or Mr. and Mrs. McGee for not keeping an eye on Matthew, warranted or otherwise. "I would like to come with you."

"Is that right?" Matthew grinned at him like a shark. Edd did not like that look one bit and considered letting the man go. However, the possibility of Matthew hurting someone while he was gone was still ever-present. Rough caresses against his chin caused his heart race and put him on edge. His nerves were already shot, but now he felt like he was so close to succumbing to the impulse of either punching Matthew or ruining everything that he held so dear.

Matthew pulled out a set of keys from his jeans pocket and spun the key ring around his index finger. The keys had an insect keychain pendant of a Lycosidae, commonly known as a wolf spider. Matthew swiped his car keys when he was not even looking. Edd was surprised by his own ability to remain composed despite of everything that happened during the day. "You're not planning on driving my car, are you?"

"What else am I supposed to take? Dad sent my Camaro to the junk yard after the trial was over." Matthew explained as a matter of fact. "Your little silver prissy 1999 Audi Sedan in the driveway will have to do." Matthew turned towards the car and got into the driver's seat, giving Edd more an incentive to go with the man. He did not want the man's reckless driving to ruin his car like what happened to the man's Camaro four years ago.

The drive from the house to Matthew's desired destination proved to be uneventful, not that Edd was complaining. The man turned up the radio to full blast and beat his hand on the steering wheel like a drum while he strolled down the roads of Peach Creek. The man was in his own world, probably forgetting that Edd was even there.

They arrived at a dive bar near a new Italian restaurant that just opened up in Peach Creek and a diner that had been open in Peach Creek for years. It was a small brick building with a flashing neon sign on top of the building. They must be at the right place. `Oh great, he took me here so he can get drunk again.' Edd scowled.

The inside of the bar was just as seedy as the outside. While clean, the interior still looked a sleazy place where only habitual criminals or alcoholics would drink at. Edd stood out like a sore thumb. He hid behind Matthew, not daring to walk out in front of him. Edd supposed it was the kind of bar where no one would report Matthew for being a parolee at an establishment that serves liquor, leading Edd to believe that Matthew was there to drink enough alcohol to fill a bathtub.

Matthew ordered up a round of drinks from an intimidating middle age bartender behind the counter. Matthew carried the drinks to a table near the pool table. He grabbed a pool stick and polished the tip on a billiard chalk before getting the pool balls in order. "How about a round of pool, princess?" Matthew took a sip of gin and tonic.

"I'm content to just sit and watch. Besides, one of us has to sober enough to operate a vehicle." Edd replied.

"I know that, which is why I'm only having one drink." Matthew set the cue ball in front of the other balls and positioned his pool stick against the pool table with the front of the stick positioned between his middle and index finger. He cocked back the pool stick and struck the cue ball with the tip of his stick. A few of the balls rolled into the pockets.

"I am not drinking that much alcohol," Edd protested. It was not as if he had not gotten drunk before. Even after the first time he had gotten drunk with Eddy and the time Matthew pried him with alcohol when he was sixteen, Ed, Eddy, and he had gotten drunk a handful of times. He had specifically made sure to only drink alcohol that had known health benefits such as red wine. This situation was different however; he would be drinking around a man that he didn't entirely trust.

Matthew chuckled, "if you don't, I will. Remember I still have the keys to the car." Matthew got out the keys from his pocket for emphasis.

Edd tried to take the keys away, but Matthew quickly put them inside of his pants and underwear before Edd could reach them. "If you want the keys, reach in and grab them!"

"Absolutely not," Edd balked at idea of reaching down the man's pants. When Matthew traced his lower navel area, suggestively, Edd's face turned bright red. He couldn't tell if the man was tormenting him or if he was flirting with him. One was just as likely to be a motive as another. Matthew's hand travelled lower to cup the bulge of his pants. "Just – play your darn game and stop." The sexualized nature of the man's movements just amplified the lingering temptation that had begun in the morning. Against his better judgment, he had begun to imagine feeling Matthew hovering over him, grabbing him just like the man grabbed himself just seconds ago.

Edd resigned himself to sitting at the bar table near the pool table and sipping on a Bloody Mary while Matthew played pool. Matthew moved around the pool table with the grace of a synchronized dancer. Even when Matthew pocketed the cue ball a few times, it almost seemed like Matthew had mapped out his own movements before he even started playing pool.

"It's a shame that you're not playing, Princess. We could have made a wager. Money or whatever you wanted to bet away," Matthew mused as he gotten his pool stick ready to strike the cue ball again.

"You're a gambler too? Is there not a single vice that you would not partake in?" Edd asked, finishing the Bloody Mary.

"To be truly _happy _in this world a man ought to not merely _fling himself_ _into every vice_, but should never permit himself one virtue," Matthew replied, striking the 10 ball.

"Too bad for you, the horrid man whose quote you just paraphrased spent the rest of his life in a French asylum for his deviant writings," Edd informed, taking a sip of a _piña colada_.

"Like I care," Matthew retorted, lifting his pool stick up to polish the tip again, "I just heard that from Lucas once."

"Of course," Edd shook his head.

"So tell me about your relationship with Pipsqueak," Matthew straightened his pool stick on the table, ready to make his next move.

"We've been together for four years," Edd shrugged, "Eddy is a real gentleman. You should be proud of your younger brother. He's really accomplished a bit despite only having a high school diploma."

"So how does that accomplishment factor into your non-existent sex life?" Matthew struck the cue ball again and pocketed the 10 ball. Matthew glanced over at Edd and snickered at Edd's outraged expression, "don't look so shocked. I can just look at the way you act and know that you haven't been fucked in a while. So has his job left Pipsqueak impotent enough not to give you at least a quickie or is he purposely withholding sex from you?"

"What does it matter? Sex is not a major factor in my relationship with him," Edd retorted.

The amusement on Matthew's face was as clear as newly polished mirror. "You and Pipsqueak are almost at the age where you're at your sexual peak. You can't honestly tell me that you're willing to ignore your natural cravings for some sort of obligation to Pipsqueak. It's what most couples say right when their relationship is on the rocks. If you or he is not sexually fulfilled, you'll look elsewhere to scratch that itch. Deep inside, we are all hardwired to want to spread our seed to as many willing people as possible or to willingly accept as much seed as we possibly can, gay or straight. Well, things are a bit different for lesbians, but the same shit applies to them. They'll cheat on their lovers too if they're not getting their fill. Anyway, that's biology for you, Princess. It's the reason why people cheat in the first place."

"And I suppose you know all of that from personal experience?" Edd asked, pointedly. He was too worn out to debate the man's immoral view of relationships.

Matthew got ready to pocket the eight ball, "I've been down that road since I was a child."

"Being a victim of a depraved adult should not define who you are in the present," Edd argued.

Matthew glared at him, darkly, but shrugged it off a second later, "I was not talking about that. I lost my, how do you say, `emotional virginity' when I was eleven years old and had plenty of willing partners since then."

"Eleven years old? That's really young!" Edd exclaimed.

Matthew shrugged, "I had an idea of what I wanted at that age even though I kept deluding myself to think otherwise. It didn't become clear until I was thirteen."

Edd refused to argue with Matthew any further. There might have been a smidgeon of truth within the man's rant as depraved as the man's point-of-view may be, but Edd would never acknowledge that point of view, especially in the age where sexual diseases are still a grim reality. Also, he may have looked at Matthew with desire, but he would not act on those impulses. Plus, it had already felt like Edd had cheated on Eddy just for looking at Eddy's brother in the wrong way. The eight ball on the pool table went straight into the pocket.

While Matthew was finishing up his game of pool, Edd sipped down more drinks, wanting to chase away his anxiety as much as he could. The alcohol kicked in and he had begun to calm down. He was not even sure how many drinks he had when Matthew was finished playing pool, but he was more than a little tipsy when he stood up to leave with Matthew.

Matthew chuckled at him, "I was just kidding about you having to consume that much alcohol."

"Whatever, I just want to go home," Edd groaned.

"We have one more place we need to visit, sweetheart, and then we can go home. Curfew ends in about an hour and a half, so we'll only be at the place for a little bit." Matthew grimaced when he felt the car keys scrapped against his pubic region, "maybe putting the keys in my pants wasn't such a good idea."

Matthew quickly pulled the keys out and wrapped his arm around Edd's waist to steady him. Edd was staggering around and could just barely stand. With the alcohol in his system, Edd begun to trust Matthew at least a little bit. Edd walked with Matthew to the car, wondering where the man was going to take him.


	7. What's the matter, Princess?

Edd was driven to a secluded spot at the edge of a wooded area that Edd had only seen when he drove past the area a few times when he was running errands. The wooded area seemed like the kind of area people would go camping or hiking in. Matthew just stared into the distance as if the woods brought some memories back to the man. Matthew was a Peach Creek resident at one time, so the area was probably very familiar to him. Perhaps the area brought back some memories of Matthew's youth? It was kind of odd that the man took him just to view the woods, but compared to the night in general, seeing the woods in a secluded area probably was the least bizarre part of the night.

Edd took in the scene. The forest actually was quite peaceful during the nighttime. The tranquility of the scene was quickly interrupted by an arm snaking across his back and rough caresses upon his narrow hip. The sensitive skin of his hip was squeezed by Matthew's large fingers. "Looks like it's just the two of us, Princess."

Matthew clashed his lips against Edd's forcefully. Edd squeaked out into the kiss in shock. Matthew held Edd tightly and curled his lips into a smug grin. Edd was afraid of losing control of himself if he allowed the kiss to continue. Matthew moved himself to the other side of the car and was kneeling on the floorboard, keeping both his hands and his lips on Edd.

Edd pulled his head away, gasping for breath. Matthew nibbled on the skin of his jawbone. Edd was worried about receiving a mark from the man. "Matthew, restrain yourself! I'm romantically involved with Eddy now. We can't do this."

"Why not, Sweetheart? I don't see Pipsqueak here trying to kick my ass over you. It's almost as if he handed you to me again." Matthew purred, "Plus, I seen the way that you look at me. You want this as bad as I do."

Matthew roughly kissed him again, "Damn, you're still one hot little fucker." Edd grimaced at the language Matthew used, but he was silenced by another bruising kiss. Edd's control was hanging on by a thread. He started to lose himself in the moment. Edd's control was shattered when Matthew slipped his tongue inside his hot cavern.

When his last ounce of self-control was shattered, he started to take pleasure in tasting Matthew's saliva on his tongue. The tasteless liquid was like sweet nectar. He kissed Matthew back in a blind fervor. He wrapped his hands around Matthew's shoulders and his legs around the small of Matthew's back. Both their appendages massaged each other, fighting each other for dominance. Edd felt the man's heaving chest against his own. The man's hands rubbed up and down the length of his sides.

The trance was broken when he felt the zipper to his pants getting tugged down. He pushed Matthew away and wiped his lips of any saliva with his hand. He wanted to wipe the perverted, smug look off of the man's face, but did not have the energy to do so. His head was spinning from the alcohol, his own hormones, and the guilt from kissing the man.

"Cease your actions, please. It would be in the best interest of both of us if you take us both back home," Edd demanded, buttoning his pants.

"Still a fucking tease," Matthew snorted, scooting back to the driver's seat.

"Excuse me? You knew I was with Eddy! I don't like you insinuating that I've made romantic advances towards you." Edd argued.

"Seems like you were," Matthew started up the car, "four years and a new relationship doesn't mean jack shit. You will always remember the person that you lost your virginity to, unless another person is great at making it hurt in all of the wrong places and deserves being placed on a pedestal."

"Eddy holds a special place in my heart, so control your actions immediately!" Edd yelled.

"You know what makes that so hard to believe; the fact that you kissed me back a moment ago." Matthew taunted, "Remember when you wanted be to taught how to be kinky? Since I have returned, the offer still stands."

"That meant nothing," Edd replied.

"-And I suppose that kiss you gave me at the hospital four years ago didn't mean anything either, right? You're so full of shit!" Matthew retorted.

"Just be quiet, I don't want to discuss this any further," Edd groaned. Edd sat in the passenger seat in complete silence. He did not want to argue with Matthew any further. He hated to admit it, but Matthew could be right. He still had some kind of lustful attraction to the vile twenty-eight year old. He can't take back kissing the man in the first place. He cheated on Eddy and that rotten feeling of guilt was starting to eat away at him. He cheated on Eddy with Eddy's own brother. That was the ultimate betrayal of Eddy's trust that Edd could imagine doing.

Edd watched the houses and trees they passed by in the car. The alcohol was still intoxicating his system and he felt like either hunching over in the car or passing out. He felt sausage-sized fingers squeeze his leg firmly. He tried to wiggle his leg away, but Matthew's grip only tightened when he moved. Edd sighed in defeat and watched the road. They even passed by an abandoned brown house that seemed to have a problem with bad soil and the dead trees near the house were evidence of that. The girdling roots of the red maple tree in the middle of the yard seemed to have strangled the life out of the tree. It was just a curious natural phenomenon. Edd had read about it in books, but never seen such a thing in person. He would need to examine it next time he was out this way. The grip on his leg tightened in a death grip for a short while until they were up the road. One of the street signs read `Blood Pt.' Edd heard the street sign was changed from Blood Point to Blood Pt. during the early 1980s due to the sign constantly getting stolen by unruly teenagers and possibly used as a morbid bedroom decoration for the sign thief's bedroom.

Edd was not sure when he passed out, but he awoken the next morning in his own bed with his clothes still on and Niels Bohr sleeping at his feet. He had a bad hangover from the night before. His head was pounding like a drum and his stomach felt sour. He was never going to drink again. The only thing he wanted to do was lie in bed and sleep off the symptoms.

The sound coming from the living room taunted him. Edd groaned and quickly got out of bed. He dragged his feet down the hallway, massaging his temple. Perhaps, eating an egg sandwich on toasted bread with a side of potatoes and a glass of water would get rid of his hangover. That and a Tylenol would work. A nice relaxing shower would also help as well. However, he had to investigate the noise first. It didn't sound like rock music. In fact, it sounded like – The nerve of that revolting man! Edd's face reddened. It sounded like passionate moans mixed in with cheesy jazz music. That only meant two things; Matthew either was infecting his computer with whatever malicious malware was lurking on the web or Matthew was driving his cable bill up. Did Matthew even know how to use computer?

He felt Niels Bohr walking by his feet as he approached the door to the office room. It seemed like the sound was coming from the downstairs. He shielded his eyes with his hat and carefully walked down the steps. Niels Bohr no longer followed him. As soon as he reached the bottom step, he yelled over the TV, "Matthew! Turn that degenerate pornographic movie off! Neither Eddy nor I have enough money each month to pay for adult-oriented pay-per-view channels!" He knew that it would be better if he didn't remove his hat at the moment.

Matthew chortled at him and shut the movie off. The sound Matthew's pants being zipped up can be heard. "It's not pay-per-view. It's on DVD."

Edd braced himself to pull up his hat to glance at the scene. Three pornographic movies sat on top of his TV with one of them being open. Matthew had the DVD remote in his hand, more proof that Matthew really was watching a DVD, a perverted one at that. "Where did you get the money to be able to afford those movies? Lucas?"

"I took it out of the jar on the fridge." Matthew answered.

"That was our rainy day fund! It was for a potential emergency situation!" Edd argued.

"Yeah, and I considered it an emergency!" Matthew replied.

Edd sighed, "What on earth am I going to tell Eddy when he sees that a sizable amount of the rainy day fund has been squandered?"

"The hell if I know." Matthew shrugged, "Pipsqueak was here for a half hour earlier this morning to get showered and changed."

"He was here and you did not wake me up?" Edd questioned, caressing his forehead to ease his already aching head.

"If he wanted to see you before he went back to work, he would have woken you up himself," Matthew stated, matter-of-factly. Matthew then trapped Edd between him and the TV "What's the matter, Princess? Don't you like me?"

Matthew's words completely spooked Edd. Those were the exact words that Matthew, the younger version of Matthew, said in his dream two nights previously. It was an out of the ordinary and spine-chilling coincidence. He never told Matthew or anybody about his bizarre dream. What were the odds of Matthew saying what he said a moment ago?

Edd pushed Matthew away and stomped towards the kitchen. Matthew cackled behind him, "Well! Looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning! Kind of makes me wonder how you would be in the sack when you get as forceful like you were a second ago. I can imagine that my dick would be hurting for a couple of days."

Edd refused to respond to vulgarity of the taunts. "Don't you have anyone to visit today?"

"Not that I can think of," Matthew replied.

Edd glared at him, "That's interesting. I can think of five people you should make the effort to visit. Two of them were worried sick over you during your trial and the other three are not going to be kids forever."

"My kids are now nine years old and seven years old, it's not like they're in high school. As for Mom and Dad, they got along just fine without me for years. It's not going to hurt them if I don't see them today." Matthew sneered.

"It would still do you some good if you visit them," Edd replied angrily, "What else are you planning on doing today? Sitting on the couch?"

"That's the plan," Matthew declared, "unless you're planning on sucking my dick today."

Edd gritted his teeth to prevent himself from lashing out on Matthew. If Matthew wanted to act like a spoiled, perverted teenager, he'll treat him like one! Edd grabbed the cordless phone from the kitchen and took it outside, making a quick phone call. He couldn't prevent himself from grinning mischievously after the call was made. His actions might have been devious, but it would do Matthew a world of good to have some company. Company that did not consist of only him!

Edd walked back into the kitchen and placed the phone on its mount. He made his hangover breakfast in complete silence. He was thankful that Matthew put away his movies and watched a cop drama on TV. After his breakfast was done, he heard the doorbell ring. "I'll answer that," Edd called out, trying not to sound too eager.


	8. Parents and Showers

"Welcome back, Margaret and Carl! How has your health been doing?" Edd asked politely, allowing the couple he regarded as his second parents into his home.

"I'm not dead yet," Margaret replied, stubbornly, "I might be retired, but I still can walk over here without an issue."

"Of course," Edd nodded, meekly.

"Don't mind, Margaret. She's got told by the doctor that her health has majorly improved within the last several months," Carl replied, stepping inside.

"That's splendid news. I'm glad that you have made a miraculous recovery." Edd replied as Margaret followed behind her husband.

"Thanks dear," Margaret patted Edd on the shoulder. She looked over Edd's shoulder and smiled warmly at her son who was lounging on the couch. She gave Edd a quick hug and then approached Matthew. She smothered him in a tight hug, her large arms circled around his shoulders, "Welcome back home, honey. It's felt like forever since I've seen you. I'm sorry I couldn't make the trip to visit you in prison, but I'm glad to see that you're doing okay."

Carl walked over to Margaret and rubbed her back, "Give him some air, Margaret. Let's sit down and talk with him. I'm sure there's plenty to tell him about the years that he has missed." Margaret nodded and sat down on the couch, letting Matthew go before she sat down.

Carl looked at his son with a combination of genuine concern, pity, disappointment, and perhaps even paternal love. It couldn't be said enough that Matthew's trial was a circus of different court psychologists, lawyers, and witnesses. Hearing every grim detail of the event was enough to make Carl and Margaret look ill to Edd who was sitting with them in the courtroom.

Edd decided to leave the three alone to get his shower over with. After gathering a fresh robe and a loofah, he headed into the bathroom and stripped out of his clothes, putting the sweat and alcohol smelling garments in the laundry basket. The relaxing spray of water hitting his naked body was enough to put his mind at ease and helped him to think more clearly.

Matthew's behavior the day before was strange. It seemed to the twenty-year-old that Matthew was instigating him as if the man was hoping for a physical altercation from him or a heated argument. It was as if the unstable ex-con would have gotten a thrill out of seeing Edd on the brink of losing his temper, which is an almost-impossible feat to accomplish unless he was really pushed to lash out at an individual. Then there was the issue of Matthew taking him to the bar and then the scene near the woods. What was Matthew's motive in doing all of that?

The door opened suddenly and Edd yelled to whoever was discourteous enough to open the door without knocking first, "This bathroom is occupied." The door shut and Edd was momentarily relieved. Margaret or Carl probably needed to use the restroom. He started to scrub his chest and underneath his underarms. Suddenly he heard the shower curtain being pulled back and felt a gush of cold air hit his soaked body.

He almost jumped out of his skin from the action and turned to glare at the scoundrel who interrupted his shower. Seeing Matthew leering at him from the other side of the shower curtain did not surprise him in the least. However, that did not stop Edd from yelling at Matthew who apparently removed his shirt before opening the shower curtain, "Get out of here! I'm trying to get some peace out of fulfilling one of my daily rituals. I don't need you gawking at me while I do it!"

"I'll only be in here for a few minutes, sweetheart," Matthew replied, "I needed a break from the 'rents. They think I'm taking a leak."

"I should not have expected any more from you. They're your parents for heaven's sake!" Edd argued, pulling the shower curtain to cover himself. Matthew pulled him forward towards him. Edd's nakedness left him vulnerable to the man's sinful gaze. Edd yelped when he felt the vice grip the man had on his testicles.

"So you actually did call them over here. To think you would pull something like that after I treated you real nice the night before. Didn't you say that you wanted to be shown a good time four years ago?" Matthew purred, not loosening his grip.

If Edd could've gone back four years ago, he would not have tried to seduce Matthew to lure him to Seth and Lucas. His actions then had no impact on the man's irrepressible fury and Edd was now facing the long-overdue consequences for his mostly meaningless words. "Are you implying that last night was a date? I apologize, but you are dreadfully deluded to assume that about the night before." If the night before was a date, which Edd wholeheartedly denied it ever being, it was the sleaziest date he ever been on. A date like that seemed like it would be ideal for a one night stand with a complete stranger.

"What else would you call it? I paid for your drinks and made out with you. Seems like one to me." Matthew explained, stoking Edd's scrotum with his free hand. Edd squirmed under Matthew's caresses, but was unable to break from Matthew sensuous torture. Edd almost tripped in the tub and grabbed onto Matthew's shoulders to keep himself from falling. Matthew chuckled and kissed him, "Careful there, Princess." Matthew kept caressing small circles into his scrotum. Edd involuntarily mewled at the touch. Matthew used the opportunity to slip his tongue inside of his mouth. It was as if Edd was just Matthew's puppet and Matthew knew what strings to pull to get Edd into a hormonal, moaning mess. Matthew withdrew from the hot kiss a moment later and kissed along his jaw and whispered hotly in his ear, "It would feel even more amazing if you waxed off all of your little curlies, sweetheart."

"No, I'm not removing my public hair." Edd protested breathlessly, "I'm not dealing with the unfortunate effect of ingrown hairs or an infection from hair removal treatments." Edd almost sighed with relief when Matthew tight grip on his testes was released, until Matthew started pumping Edd's shaft. A long, wailing moan escaped from Edd's throat. Edd did not realize how sexually aroused he was until Matthew started stroking him. He was going to explode any minute and Matthew was not stopping. Matthew's parents were downstairs and it only added to the sordidness of the situation. "Matthew, stop! Your parents are downstairs and they could overhear us – Good lord!"

"It's alright, Princess. They won't hear us. They're too busy watching a DVD of one of Bonnie's choir events." Matthew bit Edd's earlobe and whispered, "You're almost there, aren't you?"

Edd only moaned out an unintelligible response. He was fighting a losing battle with his hormones and it was only getting worse with each stroke. Matthew pulled away and crotched down in front of him, engulfing his erect member into his mouth. Edd groaned in ecstasy and refrained himself from bucking any further into the man's sinful mouth. It only took a few skilled bobs of the man's head to have Edd crying out Matthew's name before he was completely spent, shooting cum into Matthew's greedy mouth. Matthew swallowed the bittersweet substance in his mouth.

Edd leaned back against the wall, trying to catch his breath. Once the bliss wore off, the guilt set it. Edd cheated on Eddy with Matthew twice and it tied his stomach up in knots to think about how easily it was for him to submit to Matthew's desires. Matthew flashed Edd a smirk, before putting his shirt that sat on top of the blue bathroom sink counter back on and heading out into the hallway, closing the door behind him.

Edd sulked in the bathtub as the shower water continued to pelt against his skin. There was a slim chance of Edd having the ability to look Eddy straight in the eye again. He barely recognized himself anymore. What kind of twisted, vile thing was he becoming? He was not this torn up over his own sexuality since he was a teenager.

Edd lifted himself up and finished his shower. He scrubbed his skin raw to rid himself of any trace of the smell of alcohol or sex. After his shower, he put on his robe and headed into his room where Niels Bohr swatting at a piece of fluff on the floor. Edd had gotten dressed and headed back downstairs. Carl and Margaret asked Matthew several questions regarding his Social Security benefits, when his first appointment with the parole officer was, and if he had seen his three girls yet. Edd was content at staying out of the conversation and letting the three reconnect. Edd headed into the kitchen to eat his breakfast, which had gotten cool since he got into the shower. He ate his "hangover" breakfast quietly and put his plate in the sink after he was done. He popped two ibuprofens into his mouth and swallowed them. He then poured himself a glass of water to wash the pills down his throat.

Margaret and Carl decided to leave when Carl and Matthew gotten into a quarrel over Matthew's parenting ability or lack thereof. Margaret led Edd outside before shouting at her husband to hurry along before his blood pressure "skyrockets." Margaret shook her head wearily at the scene. "I'm sorry, Margaret. I should have refrained from having you two come over." Edd apologized.

"Pssh, they do that all of the time these days. I'm glad you called, dear. I know that Matthew can be a handful sometimes, so don't hesitate to call me when Matthew gets to be too much." Margaret replied.

"Thank you," Edd said gratefully.

"Don't tell Matthew anything, but I'm starting to work closely with Peach Creek Law Enforcement to figure out who Matthew's rapist is." Margaret replied, "If he won't tell me anything, I'll find out, myself. I've also sat in quite a few Peach Creek Watch meetings."

"It's wonderful that you're getting more involved with the local community policing program, but I'm concerned to where you would even begin to investigate if Matthew is remaining closed-lipped on the identity of the person who violated him years ago."

"Well, there were four sex offenders that lived within the community when Matthew was a child and that also had a sick taste for little boys. One of them was already a registered sex offender and the other three were arrested years later for crimes against male children and are still in prison. The first one is Theodore Luster. He was released from prison in 1987 after serving a ten year sentence for raping two eight year old boys as an Urban Ranger Leader. He also left Peach Creek in 1994. The other three guys are a possible fit too. However, Theodore Luster is back in town and the Peach Creek Watch members are going to be watching his house like a hawk. Gosh, it feels like I'm Sherlock Holmes."

"Just be careful with your search. There are some dire consequences in getting to emotionally invested in getting justice for loved ones." Edd warned.

"I'll be fine," Margaret replied, "Lucas' dad, Sasha Barr's mom and dad, Seth's mom and several officers have helped me and Carl in our search. The police want this solved as bad as I do. It's on court record that the four were victimized. We just need a name." Margaret sighed and lit a cigarette for herself, "somewhere there's probably a young child who is as angry, confused, and is sexually acting out like Matthew was and their mother is wondering where she went wrong with her child like I did. I don't want another child to get abused or another mother to go through the worries of what is wrong with their own child."

"That makes sense," Edd replied, hoping Margaret could get some closure with her search.

"Oh, your parents' missing person's case has been solved. I'm just waiting for the police to call me back. Have some faith, Eddward. This could mean that Sam and Marian have been found." She caressed his cheek, "this could be the good news we've been waiting for."

It's been four years and his parents' case was solved? The thought instantly overwhelmed him with hope. He wrapped his arms around Margaret and cried into her shoulder. He could barely speak. The only thing he could do was cry into Margaret's shoulder with the lingering hope that his parents were alright.


	9. Business Dinner

"What do you have for me, Mike?" Nazz Van Bartonschmeer asked.

The heavyset balding chief of Peach Creek Police Department handed Nazz a stack of flyers, "I need you to pass these out to the residents of the Stanford and Walnut block. We've got a registered sex offender that moved back into Peach Creek. Standard routine, it should not take you too long."

"Chief, you seem really spooked," Nazz remarked with concern.

The old chief sighed and ran his fingers through his stubble, "he's the prime suspect for another case that goes back to 1989. His case in 1975, which he was convicted for in 1979, and the 1989 case are too eerily similar to be a consequence. The victims of the case in 1989 pretty much gave us all of the details of the case, in a courtroom for an unrelated criminal charge of all places, but a positive I.D. on their attacker. Without an I.D., there's nothing that I or the Feds can do. A few of my boys have been working closely with the families of the victims, but we haven't received any new information regarding the case. As for the flyers, it is better to keep the sex offender's new neighbors well-informed than to risk another victimization incident."

"I'll get right on that." Nazz replied. Nazz joined the police department after high school due to Kevin's suggestion. Peach Creek is usually a calm suburban town, so the amount of crimes the department receives are usually minor incidents like a traffic violation or a bar fight. Nazz took a look at one of the flyers; the guy's mugshot photo was on the flyer along with the man's sex offender registry information, which included the nature of his crime and his new address. The name `Theodore Luster' was in large bold letters on the flyer. Nazz already felt a headache coming along, thinking of the possibly of dealing with irate parents.

~WWWWWQWQWQW~

Edd walked into the car lot garbage where Ed, Marie, and Kevin worked. He needed to see Eddy, to talk to Eddy for at least a few minutes. He was overwhelmed over the possibility of his parents being found and needed comforting, preferably by the individual he considered to be the love of his life.

"I swear to God, dork. If you drop that engine, I'm going tear off that eyebrow." Kevin hissed at Ed who was carrying an engine to the car Kevin was working on.

Ed was stumbling over his own two feet, but managed to keep a firm grasp on the car part. "No tearing off eyebrow! My little dickens wouldn't know I'm their daddy without it!" Ed clumsy and haphazardly put the engine down by the car.

"The engine needed a lot of parts replaced, including the spark plugs." Marie announced, wiping the sweat from her brow while working on a different car, "The engine should be as good as new."

Edd decided to sneak into Eddy's office. He'll greet Ed later when the tall goofball was not busy. The scene within the office was exactly what Edd expected. Eddy was surrounded by paperwork and filled out the latest page that lay in front of him. Lucas was on his laptop. If Edd did not already know the indolent 28 year old, he would've assumed that Lucas was doing important business on his laptop. Instead, the man had his headphones on and watched a music video featuring a man dressed as a stereotypical Roman snatching an apple away from a child and taunting her with it.

Lucas noticed Edd's presence in the room and replied in a discourteous tone of voice, "This office is for employees only."

"Shouldn't secretaries help their employers with filing paperwork?" Edd asked.

"You're not employed here, so why do you give a fuck?" Lucas snapped, "You're lucky we have a business dinner in a half hour, otherwise I would've told you to scram!"

"Sockhead?" Eddy peered from his paperwork like a zombie, finally noticing Edd in the room. Eddy looked dreadful, but Edd kept his opinion to himself. It was like Eddy gotten the life sucked out of him and he did not know how to help him. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you, but I suppose that you have a business dinner soon," Edd replied, disappointedly.

Lucas chimed, "There's going to be a big announcement tonight, so you might want to tag along. The dinner is reserved for Eddy, myself, and whoever I decide to bring along, employees, and you, since you're Eddy's significant other."

Lucas was the most untrustworthy person that Edd had the displeasure of meeting, right after Matthew. An individual would have to be severely pathological to follow Matthew for so long and Lucas fit the bill. Lucas was the slothful son of a CEO who treated the world as his own plaything. Edd remembered what Eddy told him regarding the night Edd was locked into the panic room with Matthew four years ago when Eddy, who was locked in a different panic room within the spacious house, heard Lucas' stepmom scream at her attacker. Edd suspected that Lucas pushed his stepmom, possibly out of spite. Whatever the case was, Lucas was the last person in the world that anyone should trust.

Edd agreed to go with Lucas and Eddy. However most of the employees, Marie and Kevin, declined to go. Marie had to get home to catch a racing match on TV and Kevin just could not stand to be in "Smithers'" company for longer than necessary. That left Lucas, Eddy, Ed, and himself to attend the dinner. However, Lucas invited Matthew and Seth to join them.

Eddy and Edd were taken to New Orleans in Lucas' SUV – a small restaurant at the edge of Lemonbrook called The New Orleans Grill. It was a Cajun restaurant that served crayfish and other types of seafood. The six of them were seated at a large table and were given menus. Edd got gumbo while Eddy got fried shrimp and dirty rice and Matthew got fried oysters and fried peppers.

Edd gawked at what Matthew ordered. Edd hoped Matthew wasn't having any licentious plans involving him later. Though he had an inkling of the man's intentions for him already and it was as sinful as the man himself. Edd was also suspicious of this business meeting. What could they have a meeting over that was so important? Were they celebrating a recent success? Judging by Eddy's face, Edd did not assume that to be the case. Then there was the unrelated issue of Matthew covertly massaging Edd's knee under the table and then withdrawing his hand a second later as if nothing ever happened.

Ed tapped at the crayfish tank and the crustaceans swam around, blissfully unaware that they were going to be on the dinner menu. Ed didn't even touch his burger and fries yet. "Is he alright?" Seth asked about Ed, finishing a bite of his Jambalaya.

"He's fine," Eddy replied, lifelessly. Edd took Eddy's hand into his, but Eddy pulled his hand back. It was like Eddy was just a mere shell of his former self, a zombie like in one of Ed's movies.

"Did you fellows know that Cajun cuisine came from French colonists who were deported from Canada to Louisiana by British colonists? Acadians, French-colonists, could not make their original dishes due to being relocated to an unfamiliar climate and had to rely upon locally found plants and animals." Edd replied, trying to initiate a conversation within the mostly silent group. He received a few hums of confirmation that they heard what he said.

"I keep receiving strange calls from some guy regarding Uncle Roy lately. My caller I.D. says that it's from a Ny-u-something, some foreign name." Seth informed, curiously, "my uncle's been dead for over ten years, what the hell could someone want with him after so long? I've been ignoring the calls in case it's a bill collector, but I doubt bill collectors are that persistent."

"It might be one of his old army buddies trying to get in touch with him." Lucas suggested, taking a bite of his crayfish, "You should answer the phone next time the person calls." Then Lucas takes a look at the takeout containers containing a slice of cake and fried shrimp near Seth's plate, "What's with you ordering extra food? Working on outweighing Mattie over here?" A loud kick can be heard from under the table, "Aw fuck!" Lucas yelled, clenching his leg. Matthew shot Lucas a self-satisfied smirk.

"It's for Nancy and Raven. I promised to bring them back something," Seth answered.

"That kid and wife of yours have you whipped," Matthew snickered, "what are you going to tell Raven once she gets older? That daddy was a strung out heroin addict who did tattoo work on mommy, an ex-stripper who worked at Medusa's Hideaway."

"Shit, at least it's a better story than what you would tell your three kids." Seth snorted, "Speaking of which, when are you expecting to see them again?"

"I don't know. Why?" Matthew asked.

"Raven needs a playmate," Seth replied.

"You're not expecting me to watch all four of them, are you?" Seth glowered at Matthew for his response, but remained quiet.

"Sorry, your previous waitress had to leave on an emergency. Is everything alright here?" The slender waitress with dark blonde asked.

"Everything is fine, Emily," Lucas replied, handing her his porcelain cup, "I need a refill on my cranberry herbal tea though."

"Lucas, is that you? I haven't seen you in over a year!" Emily remarked, taking the cup. "Is there a number I can receive you by? I need to talk with you about something important."

"I don't see why we can't," Lucas replied, flirtatiously. He took out a pen from his laptop bag and written his name and number into a napkin and handed it to her. Emily sat down the cup from a moment and dialed the number using her cell. Lucas' cell rang a moment later and Lucas flashed the phone it front of her, showing her the screen. "Yes, it's the right number, Emily."

"I'll call you later," Emily replied quickly, putting the napkin and her cell in her pocket before taking the porcelain cup to the restaurant kitchen to be refilled.

Matthew and Seth had a twin set of perverse expressions of their faces. However Matthew, unsurprisingly was the first to voice his wicked delight over the scene, "So, momma's boy! How was Emily? Looks like she wants you so badly." Edd begged to differ. There was no trace of flirtatiousness within her demeanor. Emily's behavior looked quite serious to him.

"She was great. She thinks that I work at factory somewhere." Lucas replied out of earshot, "I hooked up with her at a dive bar here in Lemon Brook when she was a bartender there. I dressed like how you two normally dress with department store clothes and she thought I was a regular working class guy." Lucas noticed the curious looks he received and shrugged, "dressing like a pauper chases away gold diggers. What can I say? I still don't see how this has anything to do with my mom."

"Well, she probably figured out that you're a rich boy by now with your fancy phone and clothes," Matthew remarked, "Sure Sigmund Freud, ignore how much she looks like your dead mother. Just try not to scream `Mommy' when you're in bed with her later." Edd rolled his eyes at Matthew's taunts over Lucas' hypothetical Oedipus complex.

It seemed the dinner was taking far too long for his liking. He did not care about the three older men's personal affairs. The anticipation over what kind of announcement Lucas' and Eddy were going to make kept Edd on the edge of his seat. He was so restless over the news that he didn't even notice Ed sit back down at the table to wolf down his food. This was not like Ed, Eddy, or him at all. They were too quiet. Edd was quiet due his worries over Eddy.

"Okay, end of conversation!" Lucas sneered, "Now to take care of business and the reason we're all here."

"I'm just here for the free food," Matthew interjected.

"Right," Lucas shook his head, "There's been a small important change within McGee Used Cars. It's my pleasure to announce that I'm a business partner of McGee Used Cars. I didn't prepare a speech, but that's the big news."

"Yeah, Lucas is my new business partner," Eddy confirmed, dully.

Edd heart sank when he heard the news. His mind raced and he didn't know how to handle the news. The idea of Lucas being a business partner to a business that Eddy's father left to Eddy was ludicrous and suspicious. "Can you excuse us for just one minute?" Edd forcefully pulled Eddy from his seat and dragged him into the men's restroom.

"What the Sam Hill is wrong with you?" Edd almost shouted, "Lucas does not help you out in the least. Why would you even make him a business partner? What's going on, Eddy?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Sockhead, so let go of my shirt," Eddy slapped Edd's hands away.

"You didn't tell me that you were planning on making him a business partner!" Edd complained.

Eddy scoffed, "I don't have to tell you who I choose to be in business with at the car lot. I don't have to tell you anything about the car lot, so butt out! We're not freaking married, so mind your own business. It has nothing to do with you."

"We might not be married, but I'm still worried about your situation, whatever it is you're not telling me." Edd leaned over to kiss Eddy, but was pushed away. "You're not acting like yourself!"

"Don't touch me." Eddy hissed, "I don't have to tell you shit!"

Eddy bolted out of the bathroom, leaving Edd to sulk near the sink. His eyes were rimmed red and he was heaving to prevent himself from losing it. Ed walked into the bathroom with him. The gentle giant of a man just watched Edd uncharacteristically silent as Edd's world was falling apart in front of them.

Seth driven Matthew and Edd home after the dinner was done. Ed was taken home by Eddy and there was a good possibility that Lucas went home for the night, leaving Eddy to work overnight again. Some business partner! Edd morosely stared out the window, all of his problems replaying in his mind like a bad movie. Matthew groped on him throughout the entire car ride. Edd was too distraught to fight off Matthew's advances. Seth took a few glances at them through the rearview mirror, but didn't say anything. The takeout for Seth's wife and daughter sat in the passenger's seat.

Once Matthew and Edd gotten back inside of the house, Matthew latched himself onto Edd the minute that the door was shut. Matthew's chin rested onto Edd's shoulders and his arms circled around Edd's waist. "Looks like we're alone again, sweetheart."

A/N: Thanks for the reviews so far, I really appreciate them. Also, the music video on Lucas' laptop is the Tainted Love music video from Soft Cell. The more you know!


	10. Alone with Matthew

"Matthew, wait!" Edd pleaded.

"I've waited long enough for you. Four years is nothing to laugh at, Princess, especially when I was in isolation." Soft nibbles were placed upon his ear, "I know you have needed someone to satisfy you, to cure you of your own loneliness. I can do that for you, but you would have to submit to me first."

"I'm not that forlorn to let you take advantage of me again!" Edd protested.

"Oh, you're not, huh?" Matthew taunted, "Maybe I should start leaving too during the day and leave you here in this empty house with only the mangy cat to keep you company."

"No," Edd gritted his teeth, "Don't."

"Why not?" Matthew caressed his cheek. The touch is bittersweet.

"I don't want to be alone," Edd admitted shamefully as Matthew kissed the space between Edd's neck and shoulder.. Despite the man's slovenly behavior, it was nice to have someone around. Being alone within the house he grew up in was a heart-wrenching thought. He didn't want to be alone just like he was left alone in the house by his parents.

The man's body temperature was still as warm against his skin as it was four years ago. Edd distinctly remembered how the man's body heat would sharply increase once the man started moving inside of him. Edd blushed at the memory that he worked so hard to suppress.

Matthew purred and turned him around. Edd was not even given a chance to gather his thoughts together before Matthew sucked the breath out of him. While initially it felt like Edd was drowning in a combination of the older man's scent and kiss, the issue was quickly resolved when Edd breathed through his nose. He was pressed between the wall and Matthew's heavyset body. The outline of Matthew's crotch can be felt digging into Edd's thigh, ready and eager. Edd's hat was quickly removed and was tossed onto one of the tables.

Matthew slid his hand inside of Edd's shirt and clawed at Edd's sensitive pectorals. Matthew needed his nails trimmed. Though Edd supposed it was a physical characteristic that suited Matthew for the man was more animalistic than human at times. Matthew kissed his way down to Edd's neck while his hands lowered to Edd's nipples. Edd squeaked when his nipples were rolled and tugged at. His squeaks gradually became moans as the navy-haired man continued to assault his tender nipples.

"Please, Matthew," Edd gasped, "we need more privacy. Could we perhaps take this to your bedroom? Anyone could walk in on us." Edd had no idea if Eddy was going to stay overnight at the car lot again. It had been happening a lot lately.

Matthew looked pleased with his proposal. He grinned like a mischievous child that stolen their father's or older brother's dirty magazines or who had stolen dangerous fireworks. "Sure, Princess. Lead the way." Edd walked up the stairs, walking around Niels Bohr who lay in the middle of the stairs, snoozing. On the way to Matthew's bedroom, Matthew groped on his buttocks and hips.

Once they got inside of Matthew's room, Matthew wasted no time and ripped off both of their clothes save for their underwear. Unfortunately, Matthew started to tug down on Edd's underwear, which Edd quickly protested against. Matthew rolled his eyes when Edd told him that he did not want to have sex that night. Edd started having second thoughts of becoming intimate with Matthew again because of the man's disrespectful attitude.

Edd was able to talk Matthew down to frottage – or at least he hoped so. Edd waited almost impatiently for Matthew to climb onto the waterbed with him. Edd felt vulnerable to Matthew probing gaze, even though he still had his boxers on. Matthew had drunk the sight in while he fumbled with his still clothed halfway erect cock.

Edd faced the headboard and waited for the uneventful to happen. The bed dipped behind him and he looked behind to see Matthew approaching him on all fours like a predatory animal. Edd could see the muscles in Matthew's biceps tense as he crawled. Edd braced himself for what was about to happen next.

His ass was caressed by Matthew's right hand. Edd could feel the cold metal of the gold rings Matthew always wore on his fingers on his buttocks, even through the thin layer of cloth that acted as a thin protective barrier between him and Matthew's uncontrollable lust. "Time has been good to you, Princess." Matthew remarked, kneading the flesh through Edd's boxer, "This part of you seems like it could take quite a pounding now. I'm about find out soon, aren't I?"

"Just proceed with what we had agreed upon, please." Edd snapped impatiently.

Matthew chuckled and delivered a hard smack to Edd's bottom, "Are you getting horny, sweetheart? Don't worry; I'll give you what you want soon enough."

"Youch! Will you stop doing that?" Edd screeched, burying his head into the pillow in front of him.

Matthew only snorted and kissed his back. The kiss felt like a taunting one, rather than an apologetic one. He felt a bruising grip on his hips and was pulled against Matthew's form. The feeling of Matthew's bare chest against his back caused Edd to moan slightly. Matthew dug his hips into Edd's rear end, so Edd could feel the man's erection against him. Matthew kept his hands on Edd's hips, allowing him to have control of the tempo of their hips. Edd's legs remained apart and Matthew took that as cue to rub Edd's cock through his boxers. Edd moaned at the contact. As Matthew continued to gyrate his hips against Edd, Edd moaned. The pleasure of the man's movement was overpowering him.

"That's it, sweetheart. Rock yourself on my dick! Just like that!" Matthew commanded gutturally. Then Matthew stopped his movement for a moment. Edd unconsciously whined from the temporary delay of pleasure. "Now, now, Princess. This will only take a second. Nothing to worry about."

Edd peeked behind him and saw Matthew pulling down his own red boxers. Matthew's cock sprang free from the waistband and was bright red and engorged with blood. Even as an adult, the sight of what Matthew had in his pants was intimidating. Edd was not even sure how he managed to walk after losing his virginity to Matthew four years ago.

"Like what you see, Princess?" Matthew smirked lewdly and resumed grinding and gyrating his hips against Edd's ass. Edd faced the headboard again and let Matthew rub his bare manhood against Edd's clothed bottom. Edd blushed, things were progressing in a direction that Edd had a feeling that he would regret. Matthew then held Edd still while he started jerking himself off. Edd heard Matthew utter a low grunt and felt thick threads of warm liquid hit his back. Matthew slumped against Edd and sucked tight skin near Edd's spine, lapping up the seminal fluid.

Matthew started to tug at the waistband Edd's underwear, causing Edd to flail under Matthew's weight. Edd scrambled and backed into the edge of the headboard, panting slightly and crossing his legs, "I told you I didn't want to engage in any further sexual activity with you!"

"Oh, so you did," Matthew mocked, moving toward Edd on his hands and knees. Matthew's hand brushed against Edd's left pectoral and then his crotch, attempting to coax Edd into lowering his guard again, "I'm still in the mood and you still haven't released yet."

"I'm fine right where I am," Edd shot back, defiantly, and slapped Matthew's hand away.

"Maybe," Matthew hummed, looking up towards Edd's pink, velvety lips. He rubbed his thumb across Edd's bottom lip, "Just maybe you can do something for me. If you do it, I'll leave you alone for the rest of the night."

"Like what?" Edd asked suspiciously.

"Well, you can show me how talented your pretty little mouth has become," Matthew commanded.

Edd grimaced. He knew what Matthew wanted him to do when Matthew backed up and started stroking himself with long, slow strokes. Edd dropped down to his hands and knees and watched as Matthew removed his hand from his own dick. Matthew eyed him expectantly and his cock throbbed, longing to be touched again. Edd took the shaft into his hand and gave it a couple of experimental touches. Edd then took the bulbous head into his mouth and gave it a long, satisfying suck. Matthew moaned with approval, "Just like that."

The bitter taste of cum could still be tasted upon the man's cock, but Edd ignored it when he took more of it within his mouth. He bobbed his head up and down and stroke whatever he couldn't fit into his mouth. The only goal the twenty year old had was to get Matthew off as quickly as he could. A hand caressed the top of his head, "You've gotten really good at this. Such as a talented little cock slut you've become. You really know how to please a man." Matthew complimented in pleasured groans. "It would've been even hotter if I got out my handcuffs and handcuffed your little hot ass to the headboard."

Edd ignored the comments Matthew made towards him. He just focused on sucking Matthew's cock. He almost gagged at the number of times Matthew's cock hit the back of his throat. The discomfiture of the situation was eased when Matthew returned his attention back to Edd's cock, reaching inside of Edd's underwear and pumped Edd's average-sized member. The combination of the attention Edd received to his genitals and Matthew's deep, throaty groans was enough to quickly send Edd over the edge. He moaned around Matthew's cock while waves of pleasure took over. An orgasm quickly came after when Edd came inside his own underwear.

Matthew removed his hand and tasted Edd's ejaculate upon his fingers. Edd felt Matthew's cock stiffen even more when Matthew lapped up his semen. Just as he expected, Matthew really did get a sexual thrill out of tasting seminal fluid. Not that surprising considering that Edd figured that out four years ago. Edd looked up at Matthew. The twenty eight year old was still attractive to him as hard as he tried to deny it. Matthew had his eyes slightly parted. His dark pupils were dilated, staring down at Edd.

"You tasted so sweet, sweetheart. I bet you've been waiting to taste my cum. Well, get ready, Princess. You'll get what you want soon enough." Matthew informed him, the lust dripping with each syllable in the man's words. After a few more seconds of Edd pleasuring Matthew with that moist vice grip that he considered an orifice, Matthew came inside of Edd's mouth.

Matthew panted and wiped the sweat from his brow. "Swallow it up, Princess." He cooed at Edd, who was trying not to gag from the taste. He was not sure how Matthew could even enjoy the taste enough to actually gain pleasure from tasting the foul liquid.

Edd swallowed Matthew's seed and twisted his body around to where he could lay down on the bed easier. "Matthew, is the door locked?"

"I'll lock it up for you," Matthew then grinned impishly, "Gonna sleep here tonight, Princess?"

"I'm too exhausted," Edd replied. It wasn't a lie. He was both physically and psychologically wore out from the day. He also did not want to sleep in his own bed that night. The same bed he shared with someone that kept secrets from him, lied to him, and took him for granted. It was a sorry affair when he would rather risk whatever bright ideas Matthew might have with him during the night than sleep in his own bed. Edd watched as Matthew got up, locked the door, and crawled back into bed with him. Matthew pulled him tight against him. The warmness of the man's body heat helped Edd to dose off.

In the middle of the night, Edd found himself handcuff to part of the headboard. Edd flailed to free himself when he faced his captor. The lanky build, the red sideways cap, the jersey over a white sweatshirt, the dark circles around his captor's eyes, and the devious smirk. He had seen that teen before. He was certain of it.

Edd recoiled from the things from the vulgar things that were being written upon his torso in a black Sharpie from his teenage captor. "What are you doing?" Edd cried out.

"I'm claiming what is mine!" The shrill voice of the teenager who sounded like he was going through puberty for the last several years informed him. "Hold still, Princess. I'm almost done." The teenager put the finishing touches to what he had written and capped the Sharpie. "God, you're sexy like this. You look so helpless and ready for me. I think we should get to know each other better - with my dick in your ass."

"You're too young, you little hooligan!" Edd shouted, trying to break free from the handcuffs he was in. The teenager approached him with obvious lustful intentions, "Stay back, you adolescent pervert!"

He was face to face with the devious youth, "I'm sure if you close your eyes, you can imagine that a much older version of me is fucking you."

"No! No! No! No!" Edd shouted at the teen as the teen started to remove Edd's pants.

Edd awoken from the strange dream before it could get any worse. He looked down at his torso to find not a trace of black writing upon his skin. He looked behind him, frantically and saw Matthew, the present day Matthew, sleeping soundly beside him. It was another bizarre dream, except this time, it featured a fifteen year old Matthew.


	11. Fatherhood pt 1

It was Wednesday morning; Matthew's appointment with the parole officer was tomorrow. The dream from the night before still haunted his mind. There was no rhyme or reason to the recent dreams he had been having. The worst part was that he had no one to confide in his dreams. He would've probably been called a pedophile by anyone who he confined in, a laymen's jargon umbrella term for anyone attracted towards minors. He did not dare to confide in the man next to him about the man being the subject of his dreams. Matthew would've assumed that Edd had very amorous intentions towards him and would try to coax Edd into performing fellatio on him again. He was alone to deal with the bizarre dreams.

Matthew held him like a child snuggles against a large teddy bear. It would have been cute if it had not been done by a man who had done so many terrible things to him in the past. No amount of sympathy Edd might feel for Matthew can take back the things that Matthew had done. The physical abuse Edd suffered personally at the man's hands when he was just twelve and sixteen years old, Matthew physically abusing Eddy for a majority of Eddy's life, Matthew leaving Eddy to almost die from an overdose at that one party they were taken to, and Matthew locking Edd in his room in a fit of jealous resentment. There were too many traumas that made Edd leery of Matthew in general.

Edd rolled off of the bed not so gracefully to get started on his morning routine. Niels Bohr was point blank trying to ignore Edd whenever Edd would bestow attention upon the cat, more so than usually. Niels Bohr must be a bit miffed by not being able to sleep by Edd's feet last night. The only thing Niels Bohr could not ignore was the sound of food getting poured into his food dish and the sound of water being poured into his water dish.

After showering, cleaning, and fixing himself breakfast, Edd decided to investigate the cause of his dreams. If anything were to point him in the right direction, it would be the papers of Matthew's various psych evaluations that were located in a box in the garage, one of the few things that Edd didn't bother to have brought in.

Once Edd got into his garage, he sat on an old chair and pulled the box towards him. There were enough psychiatric papers to fill an entire encyclopedia. Edd pulled out a random paper and read it carefully. The psychiatric doctor noted that Matthew was sexually acting out at the age of 12, between talking in great detail of sexual matters, inappropriate sexual behavior towards peers, trying to coax a female orderly into performing fellatio on him, and even excessive masturbation. It was recommended that Mr. and Mrs. McGee remove anything inappropriate that might be influencing his behavior. Such a vague term that most likely meant to remove whatever pornography or questionable media content that may have lurked within Matthew's room, given the time period when this document was written. Matthew had all of the classic signs of a child who had been sexually molested, but it was overlooked as a possibility by so-called professionals.

Edd quickly put the papers back into the box. It was not as if he could not read a considerable amount of Matthew's psychological papers within one sitting. It was the morose subject matter of the papers that Edd only wanted to read in small doses. It was as if Matthew was placed within a controlled setting, but was only observed, only to be given drugs if he acted out of line. No aftercare was given and the doctors did not probe Matthew's background enough. The doctors did not know that Matthew was forced to take the role of assailant against his friends Seth, Lucas, and Sasha, and then was molested by an unknown male abuser. It doesn't get any more traumatic than that. While Matthew had enough free will over his own actions and choose be abusive towards anyone he regarded as weaker than him, the trauma in his life has not helped.

Edd walked back into Matthew's bedroom, hoping that the man was wake enough to engage in a small casual conversation with him without Matthew trying to pursue him again. Matthew was still snoozing when his phone rang. Matthew growled tiredly and stared at the phone, his eyes blinking tiredly. `Incoming call: Asshole 1' was on the Caller ID. Matthew groggily grabbed for the phone and flipped the phone open. "It is 7 am in the morning, you dick!"

"So what, wake your lazy ass up," Seth's voice can be heard from the phone's tiny speaker. "I don't have any clients today."

"Whoop-dee-doo for you! That still does not explain why the hell you woke me out of a good sleep," Matthew sneered, sitting up.

"We talked about it, yesterday. Raven needs a play date and it wouldn't kill you to see your own damn kids," Seth said, matter-of-factly. "Besides, it also wouldn't hurt you to have coffee with me."

"And what if I had other plans?" Edd rolled his eyes at Matthew's question to Seth. Matthew did not have plans for the day.

Apparently Seth knew about Matthew's almost nonexistent schedule as much as Edd did, "what plans you have today that doesn't involve sitting on your ass?"

"Fuck you!" Matthew retorted.

The humor can be heard in Seth's voice, "so meet you at 10, Mattie?"

"If I don't kill you before then," Matthew replied, hanging up the phone. Matthew groaned and tossed the cell phone onto his nightstand. Matthew turned and noticed Edd in the room with him. Matthew patted the space between his legs, gesturing for Edd to sit on his thighs. Edd sighed and sat in Matthew's lap like an overgrown child. The hair on the man's thighs tickled his legs as he sat in the man's lap. The humidity was strangely high for the season, so Edd decided to wear shorts.

He regretted his decision to wear shorts when he felt the man's fingernails rake across his bare legs. "All of the things I could do to you if only I didn't have to play daddy today." Matthew purred, crushing him in a tight hug, nuzzling his neck. "I can think of something fun to do before I have to get ready. You can't fault a man for wanting his fix for the day."

Edd flailed trying to get away, "Haven't you had enough from the night before?"

"No Princess," Matthew cooed, "I need a little bit more from you. Maybe this time I can leave a little love bite on you."

To Edd's horror, Matthew removed Edd's hat and latched onto the skin near his hairline. "No!" Edd loudly protested, "Don't mark me! Get your foul lips off me! I said no!"

Matthew left a trail of saliva upon his neck. Then Edd whimpered when he felt teeth graze the flesh of his neck. Matthew was giving him a hickey and he was powerless against him. The only good thing about it was that Matthew marked an area of his neck that his hair and hat could easily conceal. Though that meant he would be exposed if he ever undressed in front of Eddy. Edd frowned bitterly at the realization that that certain scenario is unlikely to happen anytime soon, which is why Edd is even Matthew's embrace in the first place.

After marking him, Matthew massaged the visible scar tissue on his scalp. Even after so many years of first receiving the scar, it still was visible to whoever lifted his hat up. Edd had no idea why Matthew or anyone for that matter was fascinated with it. Edd uttered a sigh of relief when his hat was put back on top of his head.

Matthew then lifted himself up to complete his morning routine of showering, dressing, and drenching himself in cologne. While Matthew was out of the room, Edd skimmed through an old anatomy textbook he had. Matthew had called up his exes and asked to have the kids for the day. While surprised, each of his exes agreed to let Matthew have his daughters for a few hours. Within just a half hour, all three girls arrived. Before then, Matthew scribbled out a map for the girls. Just like one of his despicable maps which lead Ed, Eddy, and him into trouble a couple of times.

The girls were still hopelessly naïve regarding Matthew's absentee parent approach to raising them. Edd wondered if the girls would grow to resent Matthew when they get older and wiser or if they would try to delude themselves that Matthew had a good reason other than spiting his own father by not raising his own kids and sheer laziness. At least the girls had each other to rely upon when Matthew wasn't around and productive hobbies to keep them busy. Bonnie participated in pageants solely for what she considered to be easy money. Dani was in a soccer team and participated only for the trophies. From what Edd could gather from Edna's sign language, she played video games for the purpose of making unlimited virtual cash within the game. Despite their hobbies, the girls still stuck to scamming people to make a quick buck. The McGee tradition was still alive and well.

Seth and Raven arrived an hour later and Raven was introduced to the three girls. Raven chased Niels Bohr around the house while Matthew's kids sat in front of the TV, much to the cat's probable irritation. Matthew grinned impishly at Seth and then at Raven, "Would you like to hear a story about an ex-junkie King and an ex-stripper Queen who fell in love?"

"Yes please!" Raven nodded eagerly, "what's a junkie and a stripper?"

Seth cleared his throat and handed Raven the map Matthew drew up, "Raven, why don't you go on a treasure with your new friends."

The McGee girls perked up when they heard the word treasure and fought over the map, until they were pacified and sent outside to begin their treasure hunt. Edd can only imagine that the girls would react similarly to how Eddy did when he was sent on a false treasure hunt – both times. He was not looking forward to the state of mind the girls are going to come back with.

"The girls should be alright. Nothing ever happens on Rethink Avenue." Seth remarked as the girls left. Before Seth arrived to his house without wearing a shirt, Edd did not know the extent of how heavily tattooed the man was. While he was aware that the man's arms contained a sleeve of assorted tattoos, he had no idea that the man's chest and back were also covered in tattoos.

A particular set of tattoos rested upon the man's chest right above where his heart would be. A red rose, a pink rose, and a pink carnation symbolizing his wife, his daughter, and his mother. Edd was pretty sure that is what the flowers symbolized given his knowledge over the symbolism of flowers. Three dagger tattoos rested above the flowers. One of the daggers contained angel wings, a dark red jewel upon the dagger's handle – possibly garnet, and the word Roy written upon the dagger's blade; Seth's deceased uncle that he mentioned in the restaurant. The other two daggers were obvious, given the gemstones on the handles representing the person's birth month. A dagger with a topaz birthstone and the dagger with an emerald birthstone represented Lucas and Matthew. The flowers and daggers, the men and women in Seth's life.

Seth's loyalty to Matthew was both admirable and terrifying. Even if Seth didn't blindly support whatever decision Matthew made, Matthew's decisions still affected Seth just like whatever decisions Ed and Eddy made affected Edd both directly and indirectly. Given Matthew's and Lucas' unstable and pathological personalities, Seth might end up in some trouble in the future due to his association with them.

Seth chatted with Matthew about his tattoo business and about Seth's own mother who still lived in Park 'N Flush. Given Edd's unwillingness to step foot in that trailer park, mostly due to the Kanker sisters, Edd never met Seth's mom. He imagined that Cynthia Kanker, the mama bear herself, probably had coffee with her distantly related cousin at least a few times.

The front door suddenly opened and in flew Lucas with a blanketed bundle in his arms. Lucas shoved the bundle into Edd's chest, causing Edd to quickly grab up the shrieking bundle before it fell to the ground. Lucas stormed to the kitchen and flopped down at the table like an unruly child that was told to go eat dinner. Lucas brooded at the table much to the bewilderment of his friends.

Edd brushed the yellow blanket with cutesy turtles back, revealing a tiny grimacing face. A baby, Lucas threw an actual baby at him and not a baby simulator that is used during a child development class to teach teenagers the responsibilities of parenthood. Edd rocked the infant gently in his arms to get the baby to calm down. He pushed the blanket off of the baby, revealing the gender of the baby. The baby donned a blue floral print bodysuit dress. Edd estimated the infant girl's age to be at least four months old when the infant tried to grab his hat.

"Is that a real baby? What are you doing with a baby?" Seth asked while staring at Edd and the baby, puzzled. The absurdity of the situation certainly needed an explanation. Lucas barging into his home without knocking and then shoving a baby onto him was like something out of a strange surrealist comedy movie. Then it dawned on Edd, the child could be a biological daughter of Lucas' or Lucas' father succeeded at siring another heir.


	12. Fatherhood pt 2

"Ugh! The baby is supposedly mine if what that bitch Emily says is correct," Lucas groaned. Matthew busted a gut laughing. "It's not funny, you dick! The baby is a Type 1 Diabetic and Emily told me she needs my need with Rosalyn's medical bills."

"Emily the waitress? Man, that's some shitty genetics you've got. First it was your dead mom, then you, and now that little ankle-biter? Fuck that doubting the paternity of the baby shit! Just based upon what that kid has, I would say that you've got 18 years of paying for diapers, food, and paying for whatever the little brat needs or wants."

"So how did you find out about Rosalyn?" Seth stared at the baby.

"I called Emily and got invited over to her apartment." Lucas answered, "Christ, I think I just fucked myself over again."

"Why?" Seth asked.

"Because I fucked Emily as soon as I got to her house. Fuck!" Lucas banged his head on the table. "-Possibly creating another Rosalyn. Fuck, I didn't even know about Rosalyn until after I was done fucking Emily and heard Rosalyn cry in the other room. Then she was like `I tried to tell you when you walked in that you have a kid, but you didn't listen!' That's when I found out about Rosalyn and how she was diagnosed with Diabetes a month ago. It was a goddamn setup!"

"You're fucked, dude!" Matthew grinned, "Those mommy issues of yours have finally done you in!"

"Screw you," Lucas spat, not lifting his head from table. Edd honestly could not tell who whined more, the fussy newborn in his arms or the fussy 28 year old in the kitchen.

Matthew chuckled, "Hey, I've got a solution to your problem. How about I strip you while Seth holds you down? I could cut your balls off with a switchblade and you wouldn't have to worry about having kids ever again."

Lucas shot his head up and snarled at Matthew. "You do that and I'll slit the throat of your goddamn ex-boy toy over there and sell his body on the black market." With that, Edd felt like he was dragged into their argument despite not being the one who made that particular morbid joke. Matthew seemed to enjoy antagonizing Lucas like a cat playing with a rat before the rodent is consumed in a bloody mess. Lucas seemed bipolar in how he viewed being under Matthew's heel too. On one hand, Lucas followed Matthew without question and then Lucas expressed his rage at some of the things Matthew either said or did a moment later. Of course, Lucas would never directly threaten Matthew as Edd just witnessed.

Edd had a lot to say to Lucas about Lucas' unconcealed discourtesy and the situation with Eddy, but he held his tongue. Though Lucas' outburst did clear one thing up; the role Lucas played the night Edd lost his virginity. Though, thankfully, Edd did not have to say anything. "Calm down, Lucas, or Matthew might actually try that instead of joke about it."

"What?" Lucas looked from Seth to Matthew and leaped out of his seat, "Jesus!" Lucas yelped. If looks could kill, Lucas would've died on the spot. Lucas nervously turned back to Seth, cold sweat dripped from his forehead, "what the hell am I supposed to do? I've got Rosalyn for three days and I'm not even sure if she's mine."

"The only thing you can do is to go to the Planned Parenthood place and ask for a DNA test done on you and Rosalyn. It only takes two business days to get a result. If Rosalyn is yours, then you might need to think some things regarding you, Emily, and her. If not, then you have nothing else to worry about – for now."

"-If Rosalyn is his, the strange fortune teller lady's prediction would have come true. You know what I'm talking about, the one that we would all have daughters." Matthew added.

Seth nodded in agreement, "that would be pretty weird."

"Enough about that damn gypsy fortune teller at the carnival when we were kids," Lucas whined, irritably. "Would I need to go out in public and request a paternity test? I don't want to even hear what my dad would say when he finds out."

"Just take it one step at a time. Yes, you would need to bring both you and Rosalyn to the Planned Parenthood center for a paternity test." Seth explained. "As for your dad, he can wait until after you get the test results."

"I don't want to go alone or take a paternity test by myself," Lucas admitted.

Seth sighed, "Look, I'll go with you to center and get myself and Raven tested as well just so you're not doing it alone. Matthew already had all three of his kids tested there, so if he tries to get them tested again, the center might laugh at him. Even though I'm dead positive that Raven is my kid, it does not hurt to have a piece of paper stating the obvious. The center closes at 5 and Matthew's kids have to be home by 2, so after his kids get dropped off, we'll head straight to the center."

"Hey, who said it would be for my ankle-biters? I want a DNA test done on me and my dad. I still say that there is no family connection between me and that old fart." Matthew complained.

Seth snickered, "if you want to know the family connection between you and your dad, take a look at yourself in the mirror for ten seconds and then take a look at pictures of your dad, dude. You'll see a clear family connection there." Seth yelped when Matthew socked him in the arm.

The girls were less than pleased when they turned up empty-handed. Edd could've easily imagined that they reacted the same way Eddy reacted when Matthew tricked him with a fake map to `Spookyville'; "Is my dad a jerk or what?" was most likely the girls' reaction. Needless to say, the girls pouted and didn't speak to Matthew for the rest of the visit or on the car ride back home.

The four men, Raven, and Rosalyn arrived at the Planned Parenthood center after Matthew's kids were dropped off. Just from how many people were in the van, Edd was glad that Seth now drove a van. Though considering the room needed for tattoo binders, tattoo equipment, groceries, and whatever toys Raven decides to bring on car rides, Seth also owning a van along with the minivan Edd was driven home in the night before made sense. The van was what Edd expected from a stereotypical soccer mom. The van contained windows on all sides of the van, four doors, and also had three rows of seats.

On the way to the center, Matthew looked like he had seen a ghost. The ex-felon paled and perspired; his fists balled and shook for a brief moment. Edd looked to the other side and only saw two boys enter an ice cream shop, following an adult that Edd didn't get a good look at. When Seth took notice of Matthew and asked what was wrong, Matthew dismissed it as just his imagination. Edd had no clue of what Matthew thought he saw, but Edd did not want to ask.

The Planned Parenthood building was a brick building with a modest but well-maintained landscape and a medium-sized parking lot. The `planned' part of the sign was a paradox. Most of the people who show up at the building are there under unplanned circumstances, whether it be unwanted pregnancies or DNA testing. Seth and Lucas took Raven and Rosalyn in, taking Rosalyn's diaper bag with her diabetes medicine and insulin shots with them. Edd and Matthew both stayed in the van for different reasons. Edd did it to respect Seth's and Lucas' privacy. Matthew did it, because he was not up to getting out of the car.

Edd already knew the process of DNA testing. He didn't know it personally, but he had read up on the process. The science behind DNA was fascinating to him to say the least. Humans share 99.9 percent of their DNA with other humans and the .1 percent of a human's genetic code is what makes them different; a genetic wildcard determining an individual's physical appearance, medical history, and even a person's personality. A DNA test match up the similarities between the genetic markers of the two biological samples and the paternity of a child is determined through those similarities. Edd's internal memorization of the science of parentage testing was interrupted by Matthew massaging his thigh.

"Cease your perversion!" Edd scolded. "Now is not the time to succumb to your desires, whatever they are at the moment." Matthew grabbed his wrist and pulled Edd's hand towards his own crotch, rubbing it across the fabric of the jeans. Matthew groaned as his pants started to tent. The smell of the man's sweat and cologne was as intoxicating as an aphrodisiac, making Edd swoon. Matthew's head dipped down and took Edd's left pectoral into his mouth through Edd's shirt, rolling his teeth between the tender nipple. Edd moaned softly and then panicked. He shouldn't be doing this, especially in Seth's van. Edd pulled himself away. "Enough, Matthew! We're in Seth's vehicle in a parking lot."

"It's not like Seth hasn't seen me fucking someone before. I once fucked his ex's friend right in front of him while he was doped out of his mind. Literally, he had heroin oozing out of his damn arm. Though the same happened to me when Seth was given cocaine and took a girl from the party into the room I was smoking a blunt in and started nailing her on the bed in front of me. Then there was the time at another party where I tossed Lucas' drunk ass in bed with a girl who was as drunk as he was. Lucas got his first kiss and BJ and I just sat and watched. It was like watching free cable porn." Matthew noticed Edd's horrified expression and put his arm around the slender twenty year old, "What's that look for? It should not be that surprising that my teenage years were wild. You can't tell me that you've never witnessed Cheesehead going at it."

Edd had witnessed Ed in bed with the Kanker sisters a couple of times over the years, but he never stayed to watch. Matthew completely disregarded both Lucas' and Seth's need for privacy during those incidents and took enjoyment out invading what was supposed to be private moments. He couldn't even imagine why Seth and Lucas still stayed friends with him, but there was probably something more that he did not know about. "You need to respect the personal space of others and-" Edd yelped when he felt Matthew's hand dip into his shorts and jolted from his seat, "-And not pursue individuals with the finesse of a sexual predator."

He knew he had used the wrong choice of words when he felt a fist connect to the back of his head. Though still conscious, the hit caused a sharp pain in his head. He felt his short raven locks pulled forward through his hat. Edd yelled out the pain he was feeling. He felt the man's hot breath growl angrily in his ear. "You want to repeat that, Princess? You want to fucking repeat that?! I'm a fucking rapist? Is that what you think, you little goddamn slut? I didn't hear you cry or beg me to stop when I was with you last night or any of the other times I had you in my bed. You loved it! Where the fuck do you get off on claiming that I'm some kind of rapist?"

"Matthew, I'm sorry!" Edd squeaked due to the soreness on the back of his head. "Please, forgive me. It was just a slip of the tongue. I meant nothing that I said. You're not a rapist. Please, let go of my hair." He turned his head slightly and made eye contact with Matthew. The twenty eight year old man looked as frightening as he did when he first confronted the man back when he was just a young teen or the time when Edd was placed in a chokehold when he was sixteen years old. Edd caressed Matthew's cheek down to the man's goatee to get him to calm down. Edd was thankful that Seth's tattoo equipment was in one of the seats ahead of them instead of in the floor or right next to them.

He was pulled into the man's lap and hesitantly looked the man in the face. Matthew's face softened back into a neutral position. "Don't do that again, Princess." Matthew pinned Edd against him and crushed his lips in a smothering kiss. Edd could barely breathe. It was as if Matthew's anger from a moment ago morphed into that of sexual desire and further fueled his desire to possess Edd. It was what Matthew was trying to get Edd to do a few days ago, channel his frustration into some kind of unrestrained licentious action. Matthew pulled away, looking proud of himself. "You might not realize this yet, Princess, but sooner or later, we're going to fuck again and I certainly am not going to hold back when we do get there."

Matthew and Edd remained in their seats until the two men and their daughters returned. The uncomfortable silence in the car before their arrival was as suffocating as the humidity outside. Raven whined and rubbed her cheek as she walked down the parking lot, "Daddy, the Q-tip made my cheek hurt."

"I'm sorry. You want me to kiss your cheek to make it feel better?" Seth asked.

Raven nodded eagerly, "Yeah!" Raven was lifted up and got a peck on the cheek. She snuggled against her dad's shoulder and yawned. "I'm getting sleepy. Stupid Mattie made me walk around the neighborhood for nothin'!"

"He did, huh? We'll get home soon after we drop off everyone," Seth soothed the young girl. Seth then turned to Lucas, "what are you doing to do about the car lot? You can't take Rosalyn there."

Lucas snorted, "What do you mean, `do?' I'm going to take a mental health day or two. Pipsqueak can handle it by himself." `He usually does,' Edd thought, rolling his eyes.

"Also, you're holding the baby wrong," Seth informed Lucas. "You're supposed to support the baby's head when you hold it."

"Ugh! Anything else?" Lucas corrected the way he held Rosalyn. Suddenly Rosalyn spat up on his shirt and Lucas groaned, "That Armani shirt was 500 dollars, you little shit!"

"Keep a towel near you at all times, especially after you feed a baby." Seth instructed. "I've got an old towel in my car you can use." Lucas just groaned again. When Matthew and Edd got home, Edd spent the rest of the night avoiding Matthew. He was still shook up over Matthew's violent outburst in the van. Perhaps he shouldn't have said something like that to someone who he knew was a victim of child molestation. The main problem was Edd resisted rushing headlong into a sexual relationship with someone that was both emotionally unstable and violent, but it didn't really work out when Matthew made resisting difficult for him.


	13. Stopped Caring

Edd ended up being the one who drove Matthew to meet with his parole officer. Waiting out in the car for Matthew was about as uninteresting as watching paint dry. Edd brought along a book to relieve his boredom. Taps on his window forced Edd to put his book away and roll down his window. "Greetings, Nazz. How may I help you this morning?"

"Nothing, Dee. I'm just on the beat today. I seen you and decided to say hi. What'cha doing at the parole office building?" Nazz asked.

"I'm just waiting for someone," Edd replied as his mobile phone rang and the caller I.D. screen flashed on. "Excuse me, Nazz, but I need to take this." Edd answered his phone with hopeful excitement, "Salutations, Margaret! Did you find out anything new about my parents?" Nazz took that as her cue to leave. She waved sweetly at Edd and continued patrolling the streets.

"Eddward, we might need to discuss some things when you get back home," Margaret replied. It was obvious that Margaret was concealing her emotions. She sounded the same way when she announced that Matthew would serve time in prison, right before she broke down in front of Edd, Eddy, and Carl.

"Could you tell me right now?" Edd asked. Margaret sighed, "Please, if this has anything to do with my parents, I would like to be notified immediately. Please!"

Margaret gave him the answer that turned his entire world upside down, "Sam and Marian passed away four years ago."

"How?" That was the only word that Edd could manage to utter out. His head was swimming. He could barely think clearly. It felt like he was in a nightmare rather than reality. It was worse than a nightmare. He would rather take the Matthew-related nightmares over this hellish reality that he was currently put through.

Margaret sobbed and inhaled before she started to speak again, "Sam and Marian – They drowned in the ocean. The powerful wave hit the yacht their business party was on and they were thrown off the boat. The rest of the business party was inside of the boat when it happened. Their bodies were found a month ago on an abandoned beach by surfers. The coroner's office found out that the bodies were Sam's and Marian's through dental records. I'm really sorry to have to tell you this, Eddward. I really am!"

"It's fine, I'm glad that you did," Edd said while his emotions threatened to overload his senses like a flood gate that is on the verge of collapsing.

"Do you need me to come over for a while?" Margaret asked.

"That would be unnecessary. Not that I'm ungrateful that you offered, but I would like to grieve alone if you don't mind." Edd quickly replied.

Margaret let out the sigh that parental figures utter when they are mildly disappointed at a poor decision made by the people within their care. "Okay Eddward. Just call me if you need anything. I'm here for you."

"I know." Edd exhaled the breath that he did not realize he was holding in. "I'll talk to you later." Eddward quickly hung up the phone and let it drop to the floorboard. He tilted his head into the steering wheel, suppressing his need to cry. He couldn't do it in a parking lot. It was too undignified of him to cry out in public.

Matthew came out of the building ten minutes later, walked to the car, and got in with a sour look on his face. "How did the appointment go?" Edd asked, concealing his sadness from the other.

"It fucking sucked! They expect me to go through anger management, mental health counseling, and rape trauma counseling! I don't need that shit! I seriously fucking don't! I don't have an anger issue and I'm not crazy! I can handle shit just fine!" Matthew ranted indignantly. "I didn't spend about four years in prison for this shit."

"Perhaps it is a good thing," Edd suggested, softly, "You could get the help you need."

"Tch, whatever! I don't need help!" Matthew shot back.

The car ride home was uncharacteristically quiet. Matthew sulked over the perceived injustice over being told to receive professional help. After Edd dropped Matthew off at the house, he went to the nearest liquor store. From the rumors Edd had heard about the place, the liquor store cashier does not check IDs as long as the individual has enough money to buy alcohol. As it turned out, the rumors were true and Edd gotten a bottle of vodka.

He needed something, anything to escape the horrible situation he was. He barely made it home and down the basement stairs when he lost his composure and started breaking down. He collapsed to his knees when he reached the cold cement floor, bottle in hand. He didn't care. He just didn't care anymore.

He opened the bottle of vodka and drank the clear liquid, burning the back of his throat. Tears rolled down his cheeks until he had no more tears left to cry, leaving Edd to feel numb while he took another swig of vodka. With each gulp of the foul-tasting liquid, he was gradually suppressing his emotions, at least for the moment.

He glowered when he heard heavy footsteps coming down the stairs. Couldn't Matthew leave him alone for a while? Matthew got in front of him and kneeled down, "it's dinner time and I'm starving, but I see that you're down here having a party without me."

"Leave; I'm not in the mood to deal with your shenanigans!" Edd snapped.

Matthew quickly snatched the bottle away, "-And let you drink by yourself in a cold basement with disgusting spiders?"

"The spiders are just as welcome in this home as you are!" Edd cried, defensively.

Matthew snorted, "Calm down, Princess! Tell you what, why don't you come upstairs with me and drink with me? Either that or I can drink this baby alone and leave you to sulk with your spiders."

"You're an asshole. I sincerely mean what I've stated! You're a self-absorbed, narcissistic, sociopathic, slothful, immoral asshole!" Edd heaved as he spat each word at the man.

Matthew just chuckled at him, unfazed by the words, which just infuriated Edd more. "See you upstairs, Princess." Matthew went upstairs with the bottle in hand.

Edd knew that the man was trying to entice him into sleeping with him. Edd knew what Matthew was trying to do, but did not care. Everything has gone to hell, why should he care if he was throwing himself at the Big Bad Wolf? He headed up to the second floor of his house to Matthew's room.

Matthew sat at the foot of his bed and guzzled down almost a quarter of the vodka like it was water. The man was stripped down to only his boxers, his intentions couldn't have been any more obvious. However, Edd was too drunk or upset at the moment to care.

Edd sat next to Matthew on the bed, feeling a minuscule amount of appreciation for the man's company, despite how repugnant Matthew's behavior could be at times. Edd felt an arm snake around his waist and felt the man groping at his side. "So I take it that you're not pissed at me anymore?" Matthew's voice broke the silence between them.

"Misery loves company, I suppose," Edd replied as Matthew brought the bottle of vodka to his lips. Edd consumed it like an infant nursing from a bottle. He drank the liquid offered to him greedily until Matthew pulled it away.

Matthew licked the excess alcohol from the corner of Edd's lip. The feeling of the ex-con's hot tongue upon his flesh made Edd shiver. "Easy there, Princess. Don't want you getting sick now."

"Refrain from treating me like a child, please." Edd sneered slightly.

Matthew taunted him, "-Or what, Princess? Why don't you get into my lap and show me why I should stop."

Edd mounted Matthew's lap with a bit of hesitation. Matthew let out a sound from his throat that sounded like a purr to the younger man. Matthew removed Edd's hat and shirt to receive more access to Edd's pale skin. He felt the man's strong hands upon his pectorals, twisting and tugging at them. Edd whimpered at the contact. "You're liking this, aren't you, Princess?" Edd glanced to the side and seen that the vodka bottle was set to the side of the bed. Edd turned back to Matthew and felt subconscious about Matthew's eyes roaming across his body. Matthew nails raked across his back. Edd moaned when he felt Matthew's boxers tent underneath him.

Edd ran his fingers through Matthew's chest hair and pushed him into the bed. Edd leaned on top of Matthew and kissed him. Edd lost control of himself, whether it was from his drunkenness or his overemotional mental state. Something inside him snapped and now he was kissing Matthew as if the man was the cure to his problems.

Suddenly Edd was flipped over and Matthew grinned down at the slender twenty year old. "You're acting kind of slutty tonight, not that I mind, but we both know that this is not enough to – what's the word? – satiate either of us." Matthew kissed his way down Edd's torso to below Edd's navel. Edd looked down and saw Matthew's erection peeking through his boxers. "You were a good student back in school, right? Well, consider this a refresher lesson to all of the naughty stuff we did four years ago."

Matthew's words registered to the wasted man when Matthew unbuckled his pants and slid them off along with his underwear. Edd was exposed in front of Matthew's licentious and hypnotic gaze. "You definitely have gotten a bit bigger since the last time we've fucked." Matthew circled his hand around Edd's penis and gave it a few experimental pumps. "Let's see if you can handle every inch of me inside of you." Matthew quickly removed his boxers.

Matthew lifted himself from the bed and headed towards one of the store bags that Lucas brought over. Matthew dug through the bag until he found out he was looking for. Matthew pulled out a large bottle of lube and uncapped the bottle. Matthew coated his fingers with it and stroked himself, coating his manhood with the viscous substance.

It actually was going to happen soon. The worst part was that Edd was apathetic about the situation. He didn't care if he was jeopardizing his morals and his relationship with Eddy. The only thing he wanted to do is forget his stresses, even if it was just temporary. A few seconds later, he heard the lock on the door click, ensuring the privacy between the two adults in the room.

Matthew got back on the bed in between Edd's legs. Edd's legs were hiked up with Matthew's non-lubed hand and forearm. His anus was exposed to Matthew. Edd's cock stiffened from being under Matthew's eager and lustful attention. "I bet you can't wait to feel my cock inside you. Well, let me prepare your little pink hole first then we can get down to the main event."

Edd felt the first lubed digit enter inside of him. Edd gasped at the intrusion. The finger felt a bit uncomfortable until Matthew started probing him, looking for his prostate. Matthew added another finger. After some searching, Matthew found that spot that made Edd moan wantonly and attempt to fuck himself on Matthew's hand. Another finger was added. Edd lost himself within the pleasure that Matthew's fingers brought him.

Edd whined when Matthew removed his fingers. Matthew prodded Edd's opening with something much larger than his fingers until he slid himself into Edd's tight ass. Edd cried out from the intrusion. He had not had sex in a while and the initial penetration always hurt the worse. The discomfort subsided when Matthew started to move. "This part, ah, of your body is so much better as well. You fit around me so well now. You feel so good inside, Princess!"

Matthew thrust in him without mercy with Edd's feet in the air and Edd's legs over his shoulders. Edd's entrance stretched to accommodate the well-endowed man. Edd gripped onto Matthew's biceps, below the snake tattoo. The sounds of skin slapping against skin and their moans filled the entire room. Edd moaned in Matthew's ear, his prostate was being hit dead on. He was not going to last very long being underneath Matthew. "I can fuck you better than Pipsqueak can. Listen to the way you moan for me. You fucking love this!" Matthew whispered hotly.

Edd let out a strangled cry when his orgasm approach and he yelled out Matthew's name as he came onto both of their stomachs. Edd panted as his orgasm was rode out. "You look so hot with cum on you, Princess. You want me to fill you up with my jizz? I'm close, Princess. I'm so close." Matthew whispered huskily as he continued to plunge himself deeper inside of Edd over and over again, driving them both crazy with pleasurable sensations. Matthew's body stiffened and he let out one last groan as he came inside of Edd. Matthew's breathed heavily as he collapsed beside Edd. Edd fell into unconsciousness a few minutes later.


	14. Hot Wax

Edd woke up with a pounding headache. He really hated hangovers. The migraines and feelings of nausea seemed to last forever the morning after a night of hard drinking. He was never going to drink again. It's the same words that he had swore to himself during the past occasions when he had became intoxicated. It felt like those words were an unintentional example of reverse-psychology; Words that only jinx him to drink again in the future. While being far from an alcoholic, he still has a drink every now and then only to regret it the morning after.

He felt the blanket rub against his bare legs and stomach. Grimacing in confusion, he pulled the blanket off of his lower half and felt a breeze brush against his genitalia. He shivered and slowly started to blink his eyes open. The harsh brightness of the sun blinded him. He felt like a vampire being exposed to the sun's harsh rays.

When he could see clearly, he almost shrieked girlishly at the sight of his own nudity and at the sight of dried semen on his stomach. He struggled to remember what happened the night before. He quickly covered himself with – Matthew's blankets? He looked around the room. The strange feng shui if anyone could even call it that was definitely Matthew's. He was in Matthew's room.

The man snoozed beside him. The man's hairy chest rose and fell as he snored. Matthew's cock was flaccid at the moment. Matthew's stomach protruded as a likely result of years of bad eating habits, alcoholism, and genetics given the weights of both Carl and Margaret. The sight of the man's naked body made Edd remember the events of the previous night.

He had gotten drunk after finding out the news about his parents. He went up to Matthew's room afterward due to the twenty eight year old ex-convict taking his vodka. The memories of the man's rough hands upon his skin had made Edd blush. The man's dirty words made Edd's face turn bright red. The memories from the night before of the man's appendage dominating his anal cavity lit a fire inside of him. Feelings of sexual arousal and outrage stirred along with the bereavement of his parents' deaths created a perfect storm of intense emotions that was uncharacteristic to the normally cool, calm and collected man.

Edd straddled Matthew's hips and slid his left hand down towards the man's dick. He wrapped his hand around the shaft and squeezed it with what little strength he had. Matthew awoke with a jolt and bucked against him. Edd managed to stay on top of him by gripping onto the man's hips. Matthew's eyes shot open and he let out an exasperated tired groan, "What the hell, Princess? You didn't get enough dick last night and couldn't wait for me to wake up first?"

"You took advantage of me while I was intoxicated and distraught over the deaths of my parents, you cretin!" Edd shouted.

Matthew scowled and yawned, "I was drunk last night too. That still does not change the fact that you wanted me last night and were craving my cock the moment I came here." Matthew yanked Edd's wrist and pulled Edd closer. They were almost close enough to kiss. Edd was even close enough to smell the alcohol on Matthew's breath and wondered if Matthew could smell alcohol on his own. "Your little innocent act is starting to wear thin. We both know what you want." Matthew whispered seductively as he brushed his lips against Edd's.

Edd instinctively kissed Matthew back. The scent of alcohol, sweat, sex, and stale cologne filled Edd's nostrils as he brushed his lips against Matthew's. Edd opened his mouth to suck on Matthew's lower lip which Matthew took as an invitation to caress the inside of Edd's mouth with his tongue. Edd shivered at the contact and slid his tongue against Matthew's own. It felt like forever before they stopped, a thin trial of saliva connecting between their lips.

"What am I supposed to do now?" Edd asked quietly. "Regarding the death of my parents." Edd frowned when he heard Matthew scoff. "This is quite serious. I might have lost my parents four years ago, but I just found out yesterday! You would understand my plight if you ever lost someone that was close to you."

"Who said I didn't?" The tone of Matthew's voice was frightening.

Edd was taken aback by Matthew's response, "You've lost someone? Who?"

"Does it matter?" Matthew asked, rudely.

"Yes, it does," Edd argued. "Especially if that person was significant in your life."

"I don't want to talk about it," Matthew replied, "so mind your own business."

Edd frowned, but decided not to pursue the subject any further with Matthew. He'll have to do some investigating in secret if he wanted to know who the mysterious person was. Matthew grabbed and opened the bottle of vodka beside the bed and took a swig. "Looks like this is a perfect time to do what I wanted to do for a while."

"-And what is that?" Edd asked suspiciously. He did not trust the look Matthew gave him right then.

Matthew reaches over towards the nightstand and opens the drawer. He gropes around for a bit until he grabs what he was looking for. He pulls out a pair of handcuffs and dangles it in front of Edd. "Never in my whole entire life would I consider it." Edd responded immediately.

"Maybe I just need to convince you," Matthew responded, flipping Edd over on his back and Matthew on top of the nude younger man. Edd flailed around, trying to push Matthew off him. The man held him down, grinning roguishly down at him. "Relax, sweetheart. You'll grow to love this. You'll even grow to love what I'm about to do next?"

"What insidious plan are you contemplating now?" Edd asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

Matthew locked one of Edd's wrists in the handcuffs and looped the chain of the cuffs to a handle on the headboard of his waterbed with much struggling from Edd. "Something that would make sex between us more fucking sexy." He caressed Edd's cheeks as he cuffed Edd's other wrist.

"Could you at least inform me of what you're planning on doing?" Edd demanded as he wiggled his wrists against the handle, trying to break free.

Matthew slid down off of Edd and towards the end of the bed, trailing his hand down Edd's stomach to the twenty year old's member. "It's a surprise, so just try to relax."

"How can I relax when you handcuffed me to the bed and won't even disclose your intentions towards me?" Edd protested.

Matthew shrugged and lifted himself off of the bed. Matthew made a bee line towards the bags that Lucas had brought over and pulled out a box. The box contained a picture of a lily blossom on it and had a fancy font that was commonly used on feminine hygiene products and was illegible from a distance. Matthew scanned over the directions on the box before breaking the tab that sealed the lid of the box, before pulling up the lid.

Edd thrashed in his binds when Matthew pulled out the first item, waxing strips. It was then that Edd knew what Matthew's plans for him were. "You wouldn't dare."

"I'll be back in a minute. Try not to go anywhere." Matthew grinned, taking a jar of wax from the box with him. Struggling against the handcuffs that bind him to the bed proved to be futile. Matthew came back five minutes later with the wax, a wet washcloth, and a towel.

"Try not to struggle too much. It would make this process ten times worse for you." Matthew warned as he set the wax and washrag to the side and then crawled on the bed. Matthew lifted up Edd's hips and slid a towel underneath him. The thought of kicking Matthew never occurred to the twenty year old due to his incapacitation and Matthew's violent instability.

Matthew got off the bed again and grabbed the washrag. The bed dipped again as Matthew crawled back on it. Matthew hovered over Edd's lower half and begun scrubbing Edd's pubic mound with the washcloth. The scrubbing felt pleasant to the bound man. He really needed to shower after he gets free. It was also time for him to feed Niels Bohr.

Matthew lifted up Edd's penis, tickling the dorsal vein with his index finger. The hand on his penis felt strangely sensual. His cock stirred when Matthew started to wash underneath his shaft. Edd grimaced on how he was getting so turned on by Matthew's actions. Was he really that sex deprived that even the smallest touches turn him on?

Matthew took his hand off of Edd's shaft and hopped off of the bed again. Matthew reached into the box and got out a Popsicle stick. He also grabbed the wax and the muslin strips and got back on the bed with him. Matthew stirred the wax with the Popsicle stick and dabbed his own wrist with the stick after he was done stirring.

"Keep your legs apart, Princess." Matthew instructed, "The faster you let me do this, the faster it would be over." Matthew dipped the stick into the wax and dabbed it onto Edd's pubic area. Matthew put the Muslin strip over the wax and left it on for several seconds before pulling it off of Edd.

Edd shouted as his pubic hair was ripped away from his skin. It felt like he was being tortured and it was just the first strip. Matthew repeated the process with another muslin strip, causing another yell from Edd. The whole process felt like a form of medieval torture. It seemed to last forever and involved a high amount of excruciating pain.

After a while, Matthew finished waxing him. Finally the torturous process was over and Edd hoped he never had to go through something so awful again in the future. Edd dared himself to look down at his newly waxed pubic area. He was as hairless as he was before he started puberty. His pubic area was also red.

Matthew tossed the wax, the used muslin strips, and the stick into the waste bin. He reached into the bag again and pulled out a bottle of baby oil. Matthew had gotten back on the bed and poured baby oil in his hands. He lathered Edd's pubic area with the oil, causing Edd to moan from the sensual touches. Even after the pain from waxing, the touches felt nice.

"Unfortunately, I've got to let you recover from getting waxed, but you'll grow to love your new hairless crotch soon enough." Matthew purred as he dipped his head below Edd's navel where his underwear line would be if he were wearing any at the moment. Matthew grazed the area with his teeth and sucked on the skin. When Matthew pulled away, the area that Matthew sucked was turning bright red and most likely would turn into a dark purple hickey in just a matter of minutes. Matthew had marked Edd as his once more.

Once Edd was released, he instantly got in the shower. It was a good thing that Eddy was not around. He would not want Eddy hearing him getting tortured from receiving a Brazilian wax. He washed every part of him to make himself feel clean once more. Edd was certain that he smelled like alcohol, sex, and Matthew.

Once Edd got done showering, he dried himself off and headed towards the mirror in his bathroom. He glanced over his reflection. The red hickey Matthew left turned dark purple. He grimaced at the sight of his now-hairless pubic area and quickly wrapped a towel around his waist. He quickly exited out of the bathroom and went into his own room to change.

After he dressed, he fed his cat and lounged in the living room. Eddy showed up briefly to shower and change into fresh clothes. Few words were spoken between the two, which ate away and tug at Edd's emotions. A year ago, he and Eddy were as close as two people could be and now they were like complete strangers.

Matthew came down and flopped down on the couch with Edd when the twenty eight year's phone rang. Matthew quickly answered it, "What do you want, Seth?"

"I found out the results of the paternity test," Seth replied, "I'm Raven's dad as if I didn't already know that. Good thing Lucas footed the bill. Damn test cost 400 dollars for Raven and me and 400 dollars for Lucas and Rosalyn."

"Congrat-u-fucking-lations! You've got fourteen years of the nagging, whining, and foot-stomping shit that ankle-biters are known for doing on a daily basis. Speaking of Lucas, what was his result?" Matthew asked. "I bet anything that Lucas ended up being Rosalyn's father."

"Lucas called me when he got the result. You were right. He's Rosalyn's dad and he's not too happy about it." Seth answered. "Don't be surprised when he doesn't call you for at least a couple of days. He's going to be extra salty."

Matthew laughed, "It's just like what that fortune teller said. How did your little house dominatrix take the news?"

"Nancy was not happy at first that I got the test done behind her back until I told her the reason why I got it in the first place. She thought it was humorous that Lucas was too chickenshit to get one done on Rosalyn by himself. Her first thought when she found out was that I done it because I didn't trust her. Shit got resolved quickly after that. It helps when we talk things through." Seth replied.

"Like I said before; you're whipped!" Matthew retorted.

Seth snorted, "-And I have years of being under your thumb to thank for that. Though Nancy did not put me through as much shit as you did. What are friends for?"

"Oh, fuck you!" Matthew sneered.

"No thank you," Seth responded. "I'm not a little skinny pushover, so I'm not your type. Anyway, Nancy and Raven wants to go to the park before my 6 pm client shows up so I'll let you go. See ya, Mattie." Matthew snorted as he put his cell phone back into his pants pocket.


	15. Losing Himself

Edd felt lost. He honestly had no idea on what to do. Getting shaved in a private area was just the icing of a metaphorical horrible cake that represented ways that Matthew negatively affected his life. It felt like he was losing himself amidst all of the insanity that he was forced to cope with. He needed to talk to Eddy to regain the relationship Edd once had with Eddy before everything started to go downhill.

Edd walked to the car lot. Edd had several reasons why he preferred to walk to different places sometimes rather than taking his car. It helped him reserve gasoline therefore reserving both money and not polluting the environment anymore than necessary. It also was great exercise and benefitted his physical well-being.

The potent smell of gasoline and machinery could be smelt twenty feet away. Edd could not imagine ever working at a car lot. Being around harsh chemicals and gasoline, which had as many as 250 separate hydrocarbons, had to have some kind of detrimental effect to a person's physical health. As Edd stepped closer to the car lot, he lazily kicked a few small pebbles as he walked.

The door of the car lot burst open and out of the building came an arguing pair. The first man was Lucas and the other man was one that Edd never seen before. The man had to be in his 50s or 60s with grey hair and the same color of eyes that Lucas had. That was the end of the similarities between Lucas and the man he argued with. The sounds of machinery and rock music blaring from the stereo in the garage made the two just barely audible to Edd's ears.

"Look, dad! I'm just asking for a thousand more to cover whatever hospital bills or necessities Rosalyn might have each month. It's hardly nothing compared to what you make a year." Lucas argued.

Lucas' father gave him a look, "A thousand to waste away on a sickly heir that I am only the grandfather of? When the hell are you going to grow up, Lucas? You're twenty-eight damn years old and you now are the father to a diabetic newborn. You make enough a month from the trust fund that was left to you by Diana to pay the hospital bill for twenty diabetic babies a month, so pay for it by yourself!" Lucas' dad spat the last part of the sentence out as he opened and slammed the door of his Mercedes-Benz after getting in. The car started up and sped off, the engine roaring angrily down the street. Lucas threw up a rude gesture at said Mercedes-Benz, scowling as he watched the car make a left hand turn on the corner.

Edd just shrugged at the family drama that he was forced to witness in the parking lot. It was none of his business what family problems Lucas had. He was more focused on repairing his and Eddy's crumbling relationship as selfish as his actions may seem. It does not hurt to fix one's own problems first before worrying about anybody else's. Edd learned this life lesson a long time ago.

Edd started to walk towards the door until he heard a shrill, condescending voice stop him in his tracks, "Just where do you think you're going?"

Edd turned and flinched at the sour facial expression of the twenty eight year old. "I was about to visit Eddy for a few minutes. I had barely seen him since the announcement dinner." Edd made sure his voice was both assertive and calm when he spoke to the man.

"Fuck no! This is a business, not a couples counseling center." Lucas spat out coldly.

Edd started to make his way inside until he was grabbed by the back of his shirt and was pulled harshly into a mud puddle located on the grassy terrain located near the office. Edd landed in the puddle, splashing muddy water as he fell. "Oh good lord! I'm filthy!" He could feel the mud seeping up his shirt and down his pants. The puddle was teeming microbes and Edd felt his blood pressure rise from imagining how long it would take to wash his clothes.

The worst part of it was Lucas snickered at Edd's predicament; Lucas looked at him with smug delight. He did that on purpose! That is when Edd started seeing red. He lifted himself up like a swamp creature from one of Ed's creature feature flicks. He stomped over to Lucas and grabbed the shocked snotty twenty eight year old by the collar and pulled him into the puddle with him. Edd did not care if he was getting dirtier from the mud; the only thing Edd was focused on was getting Lucas back for pushing him in the puddle first.

Edd pinned the struggling older man down and grabbed a handful of muddy and smeared mud across Lucas' face, in his hair, all over his designer shirt, and anyplace else that Edd could think of. While he coated Lucas with mud, he shouted over the man's own curses, "you nefarious, ill-mannered brute! You fucking asshole!"

Edd heaved as he glared at Lucas, still keeping Lucas pinned under his weight. The gravity of the situation helped ground him back to reality. He was acting no different from a lowly thug. He was acting no different than Matthew. Is this where his repressed emotions lead him? Leading him to behave in a way that was contrary to his normal behavior? He was further losing himself. The proper manners he was taught to vigorously uphold, the pacifism, everything came undone in a split second with his emotions getting the better of him.

He stared in horror at Lucas icy expression. Despite the man's economic status and physical weakness, the man was still longtime friends with Matthew and most likely was as cunning and immoral as the ex-con was. It would have been foolish if Edd underestimated what Lucas could do. Edd offered the older man a quick apology and ran straight home before Lucas could jump him. Lucas shouting that he would contact law enforcement if Edd showed up on the property again burned away any thoughts Edd had of returning to the property when Lucas was not around.

Edd headed straight home, feeling as filthy and disgusting as he did when he had a psychotic episode when he was just thirteen years old when he missed one shower. He was going to need a shower immediately when he got home. There was mud caking several parts of his body. It was then that Edd regretted not driving to the car lot. His pride took more damage than his body did. He couldn't believe that he would act as unhinged as he did when he snapped out on Lucas. Was he really no better than Matthew was at controlling his temper?

When he arrived home, he was faced with a rather absurd yet hilarious scene within his own living room. Matthew appeared to be engaged in a staring contest with Niels Bohr over a plate of fried chicken. Niels Bohr had his paw over the plate as if the cat was planning on swiping one when Matthew was not looking.

The scene was too bizarre to react to at the moment. Edd grabbed an old store bag to put his clothes in, including his hat, and headed into the bathroom to shower. Once he got his shower over with, he quickly put on what he would like to call his "summer robe." It was a red silk robe that Eddy bought him that barely covered his knees. He quickly took his clothing downstairs into the basement and started up the load.

Matthew's eyes were on him when he arrived back into the living room, Matthew's eyes were alit with obvious lust in them – when haven't they whenever he was around Edd? Edd noticed however that Matthew's attention was on the robe he was wearing. Edd felt like Little Red Riding Hood being sized up by the Big Bad Wolf.

Edd fixated on other things to avoid being swallowed up by the man's gaze alone. Matthew removed his shirt and was glistening with sweat. More than likely, Matthew hit the bottle yet again today. Edd swallowed at the sight. It also appeared that Matthew won the staring contest due to the plate of chicken now being reduced to bare chicken bones. His glance quickly went back to Matthew's stare, feeling powerless to its effect on him.

"You can almost see through that little number on you," Matthew remarked.

"It's just my summer robe. It covers my body just fine, thank you," Edd coughed up an explanation for the robe. He didn't think that he was that scantily clad. Edd quickly changed the subject, "Have you been drinking?"

"I've had a few shots," Matthew shrugged.

Edd only shook his head; he was too emotionally exhausted to argue with Matthew about his drinking habits. Edd headed towards the man and plopped down on Matthew none too gracefully. Matthew made a small noise in his throat and gripped onto Edd's hips. Edd leaned into Matthew's chest and nuzzled into Matthew's neck as if Matthew was the drug to make all of his problems temporally disappear.

Matthew's hands roamed across Edd's body. Edd's nipples were twisted, pinched, and pulled on. Nails scratched upon Edd's narrow hips. Edd moaned into Matthew's neck as the ex-con's hands travelled lower to cup the firm globes of flesh underneath Edd's robe. Matthew kneaded Edd's ass while Edd kissed and licked near Matthew's jugular vein not unlike a wild animal. "It looks like someone is not wearing anything underneath." Matthew purred; his voice was thick and sweet like poisoned honey.

"I had laundry that I needed to tend to immediately after I got out of the shower. I had no time to change." Edd explained as he pressed his lips against Matthew's, feeling the man's goatee caress his chin roughly.

Then Matthew paid particular attention to Edd's smooth, hairless testes. "Getting these waxed was such a good idea," Matthew muttered to him between kisses, "You feel so silky smooth down there now." Edd moaned and gazed at Matthew with his sultry emerald eyes. Matthew kept caressing him until Edd became erect underneath Matthew's touch. Matthew seemed to take great perverse interest in Edd's hairless genitals. "You really like it when I touch you, don't you? Like the way that my hand rubs against your bare skin?" Matthew asked rhetorically as he pressed his tented pants against Edd's posterior. Edd continued to moan, unable to form words to answer Matthew back. "I've got a little surprise for you. Just wait there for a minute." Matthew replied as he got up from the couch.

Edd did not know what to say or think. Matthew giving anyone a gift is pretty much unheard of. Edd never witnessed nor heard of Matthew giving anyone anything for their birthdays, Christmas, or on any other special occasion. Maybe the gift would be a pleasant surprise for a change, but Edd was not going to hold his breath on that. It was just wishful thinking on his part. He was suspicious over whatever gift Matthew was going to give him.

Matthew came back with a strange, nondescript black plastic bag. The presence of the bag does not ease Edd's suspension one bit. Neither does the way that Matthew hands the bag to Edd with a wordless yet devious smirk. Edd looked down at the black bag in front of him and then up at Matthew as if he were silently asking Matthew what was in the bag. Whatever was in the bag wasn't even that heavy to begin with.

Edd sighed and let curiosity dictate his actions. He rolled the black bag sideways to reveal a box that caused Edd recoil from in shock. Truth be told, if he did not already know the type of person Matthew was, he would've been both incensed and appalled by receiving such a gift. However, he just awkwardly faked a smile as if he received the world's ugliest Christmas sweater. That didn't mean Edd wasn't disgusted by the gift though.

The elongated box the gift came in contained a picture of a naked couple in a sexual embrace. If that wasn't any indication, a picture of the product was right on the box next to the picture of the naked lovers; it was a vibrator. "I've always wanted to see you fuck yourself on one of these. Don't worry; you'll grow to love it being inside of you sometimes. The vibrations inside of your tight little ass would have you moaning like a porn star." Matthew explained. Then Matthew got down on his knees and whispered in Edd's ear. "Open it, Princess." Matthew pulled himself away to watch Edd open the box.

The box wasn't too difficult to open. Everything inside of the box was kept inside of a protective plastic to keep the product inside protected from the many bumps a product usually goes through when it is shipped from the factory to a store. The dildo inside was 5 inches in length. A stray thought entered into Edd's mind where he wondered if Matthew had some kind of envy of a dick, or a vibrator in this case, being bigger than him. Matthew was well-endowed and the man knew it, but that didn't mean Matthew wouldn't still become jealous over something absurd as a dildo that was the same length as him. Of course Edd probably was just over-thinking it and Matthew did not even care about the size as long as it was a dildo to stick in Edd.

Edd stared at the vibrator in horror as Matthew took the vibrator out of the plastic and put fresh batteries in it, knowing exactly what Matthew's intentions were. Matthew tested it out by turning the vibrator for a second. The vibrations from the sex toy were quite loud. Matthew switched the toy on a different setting and it buzzed even louder. Matthew switched the setting yet again before shutting it off and Edd would've sworn that anyone would be able to hear the buzzing from down the block.

"All you need to do is lube it up and use it, sweetheart." Matthew whispered, huskily as he handed Edd the vibrator. Edd frowned, Matthew obviously expected him to fetch the lube from Matthew's room. Edd sighed and headed to Matthew's room to get the lube and went back downstairs where Matthew was waiting for him on the couch.

Matthew unbuckled his jeans while Edd gathered the lube. It couldn't have been more obvious that the "gift" Matthew got him was really a gift to himself since he would be watching Edd use it. As Edd crouched down to the floor, he started to wonder where his taste in men came from. Most modern pop psychology theories suggest that someone's parents are an indication of traits a person would look for in a sexual partner. Considering that his parents were almost never around and made so many demands of what they expected from him, his current relationship woes started to make a bit of sense. It was as if he was raised to expect be either used or neglected.

The vibrator went in easily much to Edd's shock. The activities from the previous night made him able to shove the vibrator inside with some ease. Matthew had the remote control for the vibrator in his hand and turned it on to the highest setting available. Eddward shivered and moaned when the vibrator started up. The length of the vibrator whirled around inside him while the tip of it vibrated. Edd mewled at the unfamiliar sensation.

"Looks like somebody is already enjoying their new toy," Matthew remarked, releasing his cock from its confines. The length was jolting from the flap of his boxers, reddening from the increased blood flow to Matthew's genitals. Matthew gave himself a few casual tugs. Edd imagined Matthew would've looked the same while watching a porn movie. Despite the thought, Edd subconsciously wetted his lips, his pupils dilated with desire.

Edd bit out a curse. He was reaching his peak much too quickly. The vibrator pressed against his prostate, the artificial stimulation made Edd cry out in both arousal and embarrassment over how quickly he was becoming undone from one vibrating object made from silicone rubber. He was especially embarrassed by the fact that his hips gyrated instinctively to feel more of the disturbingly pleasurable sensations. Then he felt the familiar warmth develop. He shouted out Matthew's name which caused the man on the couch to grin at him smugly as Edd reached his sexual release and came onto the living room floor.

The object inside of Edd did not even allow Edd to experience post-coital bliss. Edd's member started to spring to life once more and Edd quickly pulled the object out of him. His body slumped when the object was out and he barely noticed that Matthew turned off the vibrator afterward. Despite the mind-blowing orgasm, Edd still felt empty. The lack of human contact would do that. He looked up from staring blankly at the floor to see Matthew still slowly stroking himself, watching Edd with dark, hazy, lustful eyes. "Damn, you're a hot little fucker," Matthew uttered his approval breathlessly; "you're definitely a little ass-slut – you just love getting fucked in your ass and came so quickly too! Goddamn, I knew we would get along just fine."

Edd just let Matthew talk. He looked down at himself and noticed his erection was not going away. "Matthew, can you come here, please?"

"You need help getting up, Princess?" Matthew teased.

"No," Edd gritted. "I need – Just please -" That despicable man was going to make him voice his sexual need. "I want you inside me!" Edd cried out in an almost-shout. "I want you to make me your sex partner again and stick yourself inside me!"

The fact the Matthew grinned victoriously at Edd's submission did not go unnoticed. The man's ego probably swelled to the size of Jupiter that day. Matthew wasted no time pulling his pants and boxers around the middle of his thighs. Matthew crouched down behind Edd and traced his finger along the crevice of Edd's ass and dipped his finger into Edd's awaiting hole. Edd moaned when he felt the digit probe him.

"Looks like you don't need any more lube." Matthew replied, "Which is actually a good thing. I ain't going to waste any time preparing you." With that, Matthew removed his index finger and quickly replaced it with his cock. Matthew did not give Edd a chance to adjust to the change before he started thrusting.

Edd let out an appreciative moan as he tried to keep up with Matthew's pace. Matthew helped to fuck all of the thoughts related to all recent traumas out of him. He felt wanted when Matthew paid attention to him. It was a strange bond they shared. They fucked to forget, though Edd probably more aware of them using that coping mechanism than Matthew was. With each thrust, Edd lost a bit of himself to the moment.

Matthew practically dominated his anal cavity. Edd mewled submissively as he arched his back to meet Matthew's thrusts. The man's chest hair caressed his upper back like wool. The man's cologne served as some kind of pheromone in that moment; it just added to Edd's arousal. Matthew's hands gripped Edd's narrow hips roughly and his testicles slapped against Edd's skin. He was what Matthew wanted him to be in that moment; Matthew's "princess."

Edd felt the warmth come back and moaned out Matthew's name again. He did not even realize he was going to reach his peak until he was on the verge of cumming. He was just enjoying the moment too much to notice. This time when he came, he felt more fulfilled.

Matthew's breath hitched when Edd tightened around him. Matthew voiced his pleasure as his breathing became more labored. "You came without me even touching your cute cock. You really are an ass-slut. You're mine though. Your ass belongs to me and me only! The only reason why I even let you continue your little charade of a relationship with Pipsqueak is because I know you two haven't fucked in a long time. As far as I'm concerned, you're mine. My little princess! Doesn't that sound great? You belong to me!" Matthew growled in Edd's ear in a primal, possessive tone. He came undone on top of Edd and rasped, "Here it comes, Princess." With a couple of more slow thrusts, Matthew came inside of Edd. Matthew's teeth latched onto the back of Edd's neck, marking him once more.


	16. Old Friends Say Hello

The following day, Matthew was dragged to do some running by Lucas, Seth, and Eddy. Seth had to buy supplies for his tattoo parlor and Lucas and Eddy needed office supplies for the car lot. Lucas and Eddy mentioned a debt that was owed to Lucas during a private conversation between themselves. Matthew tuned them out with disinterest. He couldn't tolerate getting involved in non-scam-related business matters. Afterward they stopped at the gas station to fill up both Seth's van and their empty stomachs. It was something in which Matthew took full advantage of.

Matthew gotten a couple of gas station hamburgers, fries, a large Dr. Pepper, a family-sized bag of spicy potato chips, and a couple of snack cakes. Matthew could already imagine hear Lucas' simpering as he carted his food items to the counter. `What do you need all of that food for? Why the hell do I always have to pay for you to engorge yourself?' He told the guy at the counter to put the items to the side; his party would pay for them when they arrive. Food was always more savory when Lucas was footing the bill for them.

Matthew could not help but to replay what happened yesterday in his mind. The sight of Edd twitching as he impaled himself upon that dildo over and over again in ecstasy was a real treat for the eyes. Matthew's pants tented at the memory of Edd begging him to fuck him. All morning, it took Matthew everything he had not to give his younger brother a sidelong glance that would've made Eddy suspicious before Matthew had even had a chance to enjoy fucking Edd.

At the corner of his eye, he spotted a child eating an ice cream. The child was no older than six years old and had grey eyes along with dark brown hair. The child's facial features somehow looked familiar to Matthew, but he could not figure out why it did. He walked over towards the child and swiftly snatched the ice cream away from the unsuspecting child. The child wailed in surprise. "I'm telling my mom!" Matthew only shrugged as the child scampered off.

Matthew then consumed some of the sweet taste of ice cream. It was an early lesson on natural selection. The strong overpower the weak. Matthew prepared himself for the confrontation between himself and the kid's mother. Matthew expected a confrontation from an upper middle class soccer mom or a working class, overworked mother. However what came next caused Matthew's heart to temporarily drop.

The ice cream was snatched from his fingertips. He snarled at whoever took the ice cream from him. However, his expression quickly untwisted into one of pure shock. Those grey eyes, those black curls. It couldn't be! "Matthew McGee." The woman replied without a look of shock upon her face. "Only you would take sweets for a five year old." His mind wasn't playing tricks on him. It actually was her standing beside him in the gas station.

"Mi-Misty Holliston?" He choked as if he swallowed baseball.

"Its Misty Carlson now," Misty corrected, "I'm currently married with a kid." Matthew could have figured that much out from Misty's wedding ring and her child, clinging to her leg, bashfully. The rest of her appearance allowed Matthew to get a glimpse into Misty's current life. Misty wore a white peasant blouse over a pair of black slacks. The breasts that he used to grope on as a preadolescent were now the size of melons. The turquoise jewelry Misty donned looked as if they were bought at an art fair. Misty also wore a lanyard with a photo ID of her for a university in the city. She had become a professor like her parents had before her. "So do you have any children of your own?"

"I've got three daughters." Matthew answered. The whole conversation was brief and awkward. Misty was his first fixation and the one he lost his emotional virginity to. Seeing her as a married woman with a child was just bizarre. He should've expected it. She was his age; why wouldn't she get married and have a child?

The short awkward conversation was interrupted by Misty's son wanting to leave, whining incessantly about being bored. "Well, I better get going. Todd here had to get his teeth cleaned at the dentist today in Peach Creek. We need to head home soon. It was really great seeing you again, Matthew." Matthew watched as Misty gave her son back his ice cream and left the gas station to her car with a lump in his throat and his mouth drier that a summer day in Arizona.

There was really not much he could've said to Misty. What would he say to the girl that was forced to move away from Peach Creek so long ago? The brief conversation was awkward and the fact that Misty found someone else and had a child with her husband did not help matters in the least. He hoped Misty was happy with her new life. He wiped off his brow when he realized it was drenched with nervous sweat.

Matthew turned and seen Seth, Lucas, and Eddy. Apparently they were there long enough to see Misty leave. "Was that-" Lucas left the sentence hanging.

"Yeah," Matthew confirmed not wanting to say anything further on the situation. Matthew gathered up the food items he set aside while Seth gotten the usual black coffee, Eddy gotten a candy bar, and Lucas gotten a bottle of overpriced water.

"Hurry the fuck up, ladies!" Matthew hollered as Lucas brought the items to the cashier, "I'm itching to get out of here and get my dick and balls sucked by Pipsqueak in the backseat. Don't worry, Lucas and Seth! You two can have sloppily seconds."

"Argh! What are ya?" Eddy exclaimed, red in the face. "We're family, so knock that shit off!" Matthew was sure everyone in the gas station heard Eddy.

Matthew smirked impishly and added, "You're right, a blowjob would be too much for your big mouth. You can just tug me when we get to the car instead." Matthew gestured obscenely with his hand.

"You're sick!" Eddy spat out, not finding Matthew's sexually charged taunts amusing. Matthew chuckled at Eddy's embarrassment as the shorter man put his item on the counter for the cashier to ring up. The cashier totaled up the amount and Lucas swiped his card through the scanner to pay for the items.

"Excuse me; can you knock off the sexual talk? Some of us like to live in society where tattooed punks don't spout off about their genitals." That voice . . . Matthew's eyes widen to the size of saucers. It could not be! Matthew's heart slammed in his chest and he started to feel sick to his stomach. He looked up at Lucas and Seth and found the two were as shocked and outraged as he was. Seth's fists were balled at his sides, his knuckles were turning white. Lucas had his arms folded over his chest and looked uncomfortable with the man being near despite his aggressive stance. Eddy looked quite neutral, only a bit annoyed. Eddy did not know what Ted Luster looked like let alone Ted's name. The only thing Eddy knew was that a mysterious guy molested Matthew and his friends when they were eleven.

Matthew attempted to hide his shock with a scowl and face the person. It was just as he feared. Ted stood beside him. Despite the fact that the man was only a bit taller than Pipsqueak or his princess, Matthew felt small again like he was still a defenseless child. Ted Luster, what the hell was he doing back in town?

Perhaps the strangest part was that Ted did not seem to recognize him at all. Ted did not recognize him, but Matthew instantly recognized Ted in an instant. To Ted, older Matthew was simply a "tattooed punk" that he ran into in the gas station. He couldn't have changed in looks that much if Misty was able to recognize him. Right? Or did the pedophiliac bastard not see a resemblance between the child he raped and the adult standing before him due to his own perversion?

Matthew leaped back and spat, "Fuck off and die, you prick! I hope you burn in-" Matthew's words were cut off by a hand covering his mouth, hurting the tip of his nose from the impact of the hand. Judging by the silver skull ring and the gold wedding band, Seth was the one that covered his hand. He thrashed violently against Seth's hold only to realize that Seth was not the only one that was dragging him away. Lucas also had a hold of him. Matthew thrashed, kicked, and punched at the thin air while he was dragged out of the gas station. His screams were muffled by Seth's hand. Lucas and Seth whispered words like "not here," "there's cameras," and the words "not now." Eddy quickly followed behind them looking extremely confused.

"What the hell is going on?" Eddy demanded as Matthew was dragged to the car.

Eddy was not given an answer when Matthew was shoved into the backseat and Seth instantly straddled Matthew to prevent Matthew from moving, pinning his wrists over his head. Lucas quickly got into the driver's seat and Eddy got into the seat next to Lucas. Lucas quickly started up the car and sped off, cursing his luck. The radio was instantly turned up as they drove off.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Luca punched the steering wheel repeatedly, "That fucker moved away from town years ago. This isn't fucking happening! This is not fucking happening!"

"Hey, watch the road!" Seth shouted over the radio, struggling to keep Matthew pinned while straddling Matthew's lap. A bystander might have easily mistaken their position for a suggestive one if they took a peek through the backseat window.

"Can someone please explain to me what the fuck is going on?" Eddy tried to shout over chaotic trio, tossing the bag of food down. Matthew repeatedly kicked Eddy's seat as he tried to push Seth away. Matthew could hear Eddy's growl over the stereo, "Bro, knock it off! Calm the fuck down!"

"Mind your own fucking business, Pipsqueak!" Matthew shouted back and then yelled at Seth, "Let me fucking go Seth before I fuck you up! Let go!" Matthew finally got his hands free and pushed Seth into Eddy's seat. Matthew jiggled the lock before realizing that Seth or Lucas put the child safety lock on the door. "Lucas, you fuck! Turn the damn car around before I break your fucking windowsill! Are you just going to let that asshole walk free after what happened? Huh, you stupid fuck!"

"I'm not turning the car around, so shut the fuck up!" Lucas shouted back, parking into an empty parking lot. Matthew attempted to jump into the front seat, but Eddy and Lucas pushed him back into the backseat, almost knocking off Seth's coffee.

"You fucking pussies! I can't believe this." Matthew shouted as Seth pinned Matthew back into the seat again.

Seth got into Matthew's face and growled out his retort, "We saved you from going back to jail back there, so calm the fuck down! Remember the promise all three of us made?" The words that came out of Seth's mouth were cryptic and non-incriminating enough that Eddy was not privy to what they were referring to. Matthew dwelled on his opinions before stop resisting and curled his lips to a trademark smirk. "Alright, Seth, but you better keep your damn promise!"

"I always do," Seth muttered back, dismounting Matthew's hips cautiously and sitting down in the seat by the window. Matthew watched as Seth grabbed the cup of coffee and chugged down a large portion of it to calm his nerves. Seth might be an ex-drug addict, but Seth would always have that addictive personality that makes Seth prone to more legal addictions, such as Seth's coffee cravings. Eddy didn't say anything, which was a relief. Matthew's younger brother probably thought he got pissed at some random guy at the gas station. Good, he didn't need Pipsqueak to interfere with the plans that he and his friends had for Ted.


	17. Of Leather and Loan Sharks

When Matthew had gone with Eddy, Edd was left alone in the house. To his pleasant surprise, Ed showed up briefly to announce his upcoming wedding and to invite Edd as a groomsman. Edd was extremely flattered that Ed would invite him. He was also proud that Ed was taking the initiative in building a family of his own. From Ed's own inelegant words, he wanted to marry May Kanker before the child was born and especially before May's stomach gotten too round to fit in a wedding dress. Before the lovable oaf left to tend to his new fiancée, he apologized for his busy schedule and explained his fear of anything happening to May or his unborn child if he is gone for longer than necessary. Edd supposed Ed, like many other people, feared the worse during a pregnancy.

When Ed left, Edd decided to visit Sasha. The scene in Sasha's bar was a tad unusual from the way the bar was from the couple of times Edd and Eddy visited Sasha there as adults. The club was filled with red florescent light instead of the usual artificial light Sasha used at his bar. The usual pop and dance hits was replaced with a cover band. Edd would've thought he arrived at the wrong place due to the black-clad crowd at the bar if he didn't see the rainbow accessories on some of the individuals in the crowd.

Edd almost didn't recognize Sasha at the bar. Sasha donned a black "The Craft" shirt, blue streaks in his hair, and a blue and metallic necklace that possibly cost twenty dollars at the most. The redhead stood behind the bar pouring drinks for a lesbian couple seated at the bar. One of lesbians commented that Sasha looked like "shit." Sasha quickly dismissed it and flashed a fake smile before turning his attention to a piece of paper from behind the bar. Edd couldn't make out what was on that sheet of paper due to several items on the bar blocking the view. Whatever was on it, Sasha looked at the item apprehensively.

"Greetings, Sasha! What do you have there?" Edd asked as he sat on one of the bar stools.

"Oh, it's nothing," Sasha shrugged, putting the paper under the bar, out of sight. "What brings you here?"

"I was just in the neighborhood." Edd replied, "This afternoon seemed like a perfect opportunity to attempt to become more extroverted. I was not expecting there to be a change in patrons though."

"Yeah, it's Leather Day." Sasha shrugged, "The day where leather daddies —or 'bears', whichever you prefer — goths, and anyone else dressed in black shows up. Rock or industrial music gets played instead of the usual songs. Oh…and this local band called 'Cyber Cenobites' comes around as well to do covers of songs that I like. They tease me a lot about my tastes in music, actually. Right now, they're covering 'Lift Me Up' by Moby. I'll tease 'em right back, of course. Heck, they named their group 'Cyber Cenobites' because of a joke I made about them looking like the cenobites from the Hellraiser movies."

"I see," Edd nodded. He was more than willing to let Sasha do all of the talking. Edd's mind was drowning in the various issues he was forced to deal with. His affair with Matthew only complicated an already stressful situation. He wasn't completely sure why he was convinced that going to Sasha's bar was a good idea, especially when it appeared that Sasha was also dealing with troubles within his own life, but as they say, misery loves company.

"So how are Kevin and Nazz doing?" Edd asked.

"They're doing fine. Nazz still works as a police officer and Kevin still works at the car lot. In fact, I was just at their house earlier for a game of rummy." Sasha replied.

"That's good to hear," Edd said, unable to add to the conversation.

"How's Mr. Wonderful doing since he got released?" Sasha asked with some bitterness in his voice.

Edd should have expected the subject of Matthew to come up at least once during their conversation, "he's still the same despicable person he's always been. Since Eddy works nonstop, I'm the one stuck taking care of him." Edd couldn't even bring himself to add `in more ways than one.' He was not comfortable with telling Sasha that he was sleeping with Matthew.

"Yikes," Sasha grimaced, "You would think that Eddy would step up to the plate especially since he offered to take in his own brother in the first place."

"Of course not! Why would he when he can just dump Matthew on me and spend more time with his new favorite person, Lucas?" Edd complained sourly, "I feel like I'm being taken for granted when I need him the most. He's not going to come with me to my parent's wake the day after tomorrow. I don't even think he's going to show up to Ed's wedding and I'm going to be the one to console Ed when one of his best friends was `too busy' to show up to one of the most important events of his life. If all of that wasn't bad enough, Eddy won't even touch me anymore. I feel unwanted by the one person that I cherish as an equal partner." Edd started to choke as he tried to suppress the emotions that were threatening to overcome him like a tidal wave, "how pathetic can I possibly be?"

"Relax D," Sasha clenched Edd's hand as an attempt to soothe Edd. Edd felt the pad of Sasha's thumb rub circles around the back of his hand. "It'll be alright," Sasha said softly as Edd sobbed into the counter, possibly getting the attention from other bar patrons even though a person sobbing at a bar is probably not an uncommon occurrence – or at least Edd believed so. When Edd calmed down, Sasha shot him a question that he withheld from asking Edd until the twenty year old calmed down, "So what's going on between Lucas and Eddy?"

"Oh, umm, Eddy made Lucas his business partner." Edd answered. "I don't quite understand what influenced Eddy's irrational decision. Lucas does not perform any kind of tasks at the car lot but sit on his laptop from what I have seen. The car lot is also where Eddy spends most of his time anymore."

Sasha then surprised Edd with his response, "it sounds like some kind of wannabe loan shark deal to me."

"What? What makes you think that?" Edd asked.

"You might be book smart, but you're very naïve over the seedy underbelly of the business world, dude," Sasha informed him. "What else would Lucas fucking Holmes have to offer a business over then his money or his daddy's business connections? From what I seen throughout the years, Holmes Senior more than likely would not make a business deal with a small town car company. Usually in loan shark situations, a loan shark offers someone a loan which an individual has to pay back with interest. Sometimes the person would have to do something illegal to pay back the loan shark if they can't pay the loan shark back. Has Eddy had any money problems?"

"Not that I'm aware of," Edd replied, incredulously. He did not want to believe that Eddy could be involved in something that dangerously foolish. Edd knew the basics of what loan sharks did, but he never witnessed it firsthand. Eddy was naturally avaricious to ever consider a situation where he would owe someone back with interest. Something seemed off about that possible explanation over Eddy's mysterious absence.

"Just consider what I said," Sasha replied, "I have a feeling that you're probably being left in the dark over something major. I would suggest that you keep your eyes open to the situation before something happens to Eddy or you. Lucas is a rich snake and he probably would sell out even Matthew and Seth if he was offered a great deal on them. He did learn from the best, after all." Edd knew Sasha was referring to Matthew. He felt like his head was spinning due to the possibly of Lucas being a loan shark or a "wannabe" as Sasha put it. Edd quickly changed the topic to mundane topics. He did not want to discuss Eddy, Lucas, the car lot, or loan sharks any further.

In the middle of the conversation they had, Sasha suddenly shushed Edd at the sound of the door of the club opening over the music playing. Edd started trembling, suddenly thinking the worst of what was behind that door. It was bad enough that Edd unintentionally lead Matthew to finding Sasha four years ago when Matthew frisked him. He hoped he did not endanger Sasha again by coming to the bar.

Edd turned his head toward the door and breathed a sigh of relief when he didn't recognize the woman at the door. He was able to recognize that the woman was in a professional field, perhaps a businesswoman or a teacher by the woman's attire. Businesswomen in general tended to dress in an amalgamation of what was considered stylish, professional guidelines to attire, and the person's own individual style. The woman's black curly locks seemed tamed and non-frizzy with the ringlets in her hair bouncing as she walked. Edd assumed the woman was a lesbian or at least, bisexual.

"I'll be right back," Sasha quickly abandoned the bar and his company to wrap his arms around the woman in a crushing yet friendly hug. He beamed in uncontainable excitement over the arrival of the strange woman. "Oh my God! Misty? It's been years."

"Sasha Barr?" The woman said in surprise, "you look so different! How did you recognize me?"

A goofy yet boyish grin split across Sasha's face, "As if I could miss your face after so many years. How did you find me?"

"I had some time to kill while my son was visiting his great-grandma, so I went to your parent's house to find you and they led me here." Misty stated. "I didn't know that you owned a bar now."

"Congrats girl, it seems like almost everyone I know is having kids these days. What's your son's name?" Sasha asked and then added, "Yeah, I've owned this bar for over four years. The reason why I created this bar was to give the community a gay-friendly place to drink at."

"Wow, I'm glad you're finally comfortable with yourself to accomplish this much since I lost saw you. It's been ages." Misty complimented and then added, "My son's name is Todd and he's only five years old. I can't imagine a world without him or Daniel, my husband."

"Goddamn, you're married too," Sasha's grin gotten wider, "we have a lot to catch up on. Since I'm the only one on bar tonight, I hope you don't mind that we'll have to talk at the bar while I work."

It was a rather touching moment between two old friends. Edd took a quick glance at the neon clock and nearly choked on his drink. He had been at the club for several hours, far too long for Edd's tastes. He needed to get back to the house before Matthew causes any trouble. Images flashed in Edd's head like ear-splitting alarms of Matthew doing drugs at the house, breaking something valuable, or having the neighbors call the cops on the twenty eight year old.

He quickly bid Sasha farewell, explaining to the redhead that he was going to visit him again soon when he had a chance to. Sasha expressed some concern over Edd driving home partially intoxicated, but Edd was able to convince Sasha that he would be fine. He wasn't nearly as intoxicated to run over one of Rolf's farm animals, break one of the neighbor's bones, or destroy public property like _some people _did a few years back. During the drive home, Edd mentally prepared himself for whatever was waiting for him back home.


	18. Consumed

Loud obnoxious rock music greeted Edd as soon as he gotten out of his car. He gritted his teeth at noise coming from inside his own home and braced himself for what awaited him inside. Edd was already on the verge of snapping due to whatever deal Eddy and Lucas had, he did not need any more stress. The sound got louder as Edd approached the front door. He was surprised that his neighbors did not call in a noise compliant.

Before Edd gotten into the house, a strange car pulled up by the house. The driver was a middle age Asian man that was roughly in his late thirties to early forties. The man rolled down the window and asked him, "Excuse me, but I'm looking for Roy Lovering. I heard from a guy at a bar that he once lived near this neighborhood."

"I'm sorry, but I don't know of anyone by that name," Edd answered back over the blaring music. The last name did sound vaguely familiar though.

The man only nodded sullenly, "Oh, thanks for your time." The man drove off leaving Edd to ponder if the man was looking for an old friend or acquaintance. Edd only shook his head and headed inside the house.

Edd left out a sound of disgust once he got a whiff of the inside of his home. The nauseating smell of alcohol and potpourri made his stomach churn. Matthew leaned back on the couch with several bottles of half-drunken alcohol beside him and what appeared to be a joint between Matthew's fingers. To add to the man's current uncouth appearance, Matthew was only clad in a pair of boxers and a black leather belt. Edd's short fuse was only getting shorter as time passed.

"Matthew!" Edd shouted as he approached the older man, "Lower the volume of Compact Disc stereo, immediately!"

Matthew sneered and lowered the volume. He blew smoke in Edd's face, causing Edd to cough and hack as the smoke filled the airways to his lungs. "Well, look who finally decided to come home."

"Will you put that out?" Edd asked sternly, "if you test positive for drugs, you're going back to prison! Do you want that?"

"First of all, this is Spice. It's some new European drug that does not show up on a drug test. Secondly, I'm not going to take any goddamn lip from someone who just got in the fucking door." Matthew lifted himself up from the couch and stalked over towards Edd. "So where the fuck did you go?" Matthew menacingly punched the wall beside Edd, startling the younger man.

A high-pitched cry escaped from Edd's throat and he stuttered out his response, "P-please, Matthew. I-I only went to the park. Whatever-Whatever you consumed is clouding your perception." Edd shook as he hoped Matthew would accept his lie. He didn't want Sasha to end up hurt again.

"Don't give me that shit! I can smell the alcohol on your damn breath, Princess! Am I not enough for your skanky ass for you to go out drinking with some other guy? I know how you get when you're drunk and you ain't a fucking saint," Matthew spat as the intensity within the man's crazed eyes gotten even worse. It felt like Edd was staring into a dark void, promising him a future of anguish rather than a pair of eyes.

Edd gulped and wetted his own dry lips with the tip of his tongue, "I brought one and half oz alcohol beverages to take with me to the park. I did not meet a guy there and you're the only one I've slept with lately."

"We'll see," Matthew answered ominously, the suspicion Matthew had was obvious from Matthew's tone. Matthew lifted up the hem of Edd's shirt and exposing Edd's torso as if Matthew were a corrupt police officer strip searching an innocent civilian. Matthew wolf whistles at the sight. "Well, there's not a bite mark on you that I haven't made myself." The words flowed from Matthew's chapped lips like poisonous honey; Saccharine with a hint of the danger that lurked in Matthew's words. Matthew brought the crumbled up shirt to his nose and inhaled the scent of shirt deeply, "It still smells like the soap that you use."

"Please, Matthew. I didn't sleep with anyone but you. You have my word!" Edd tried to condense his message in as little words as possible, hoping Matthew would finally get the message that he was behaving irrationally. Edd's first thought that Matthew's rage was due to Matthew's own delusional jealousy. However, it started to seem like Matthew was angry over something else entirely, something that did not have anything to do with Edd.

A cruel snort graced Edd's ear, "You're not off the hook yet, sweetheart! I haven't checked below the belt yet."

A black scorching fire burned in those onyx-colored eyes of his, threatening to engulf Edd within its black flames. Matthew pulled down Edd's pants and underwear with the skill of a seasoned male prostitute. There was something different about the way Matthew touched him than he usually did. It seemed that Matthew touched him to distract himself from troubling thoughts just as Edd had done when he found out about his parent's deaths. The terrifying way Matthew looked at him was an almost mirror image to how Matthew looked during his psychotic episode four years ago.

Matthew consumed his member greedily, taking it into the warm cavern that contained the stench of alcohol. Edd cried out and flung his head back as Matthew took him into his mouth. Matthew bobbed his head fiercely; his method was uncharacteristically more animalistic than methodical. Edd stood frozen in fear and arousal as Matthew worked it to a full erection. "Ah-ah!" Edd managed to cry out when a dry digit entered him.

The dual sensations took over any rationality the dark-haired young man had. Sure, the situation was still frightening, but arousal proved to be an emotion more powerful than the former. The wet slurping sound Matthew made when he continued to fellate him made it hard to refuse the man's advances. Edd imagined that he looked like a terrified mouse that was being consumed by a ravenous serpent.

The lack of lubrication made Matthew's fingering more than a little uncomfortable for Edd, so the younger man was relieved when Matthew pulled his fingers out. Edd almost relaxed until he heard Matthew unbuckled his own belt. It was strange due to the fact that Edd never seen Matthew don a belt before. Matthew pulled his belt off, not missing a beat when he sucked the younger man off. Edd tensed when he felt Matthew trace a finger along his wrist.

Spark flew behind Edd's eyes as his climax shook him. Matthew hum around the sensitive organ, consuming every drop of Edd's seed, swallowing it with the gluttonous nature of a dehydrated man. Matthew allowed Edd's organ to go limp in his mouth and withdrew from it, licking his lips of the excess liquid dripping from the corners of his mouth.

Edd's stood limply as he attempted to gather his bearings after having his walls completely obliterated by Matthew's wicked mouth. That sinful mouth should have been illegal. Matthew knew how to use his sexuality to his own advantage and had done it well. So well that Edd hardly felt belt tighten around his wrists.

When he felt the belt straps tied tightly around his wrists though, he thrashed and glared at Matthew, defiantly. "I don't consent to this, you brute! Untie me immediately!"

Matthew shot him a deadly glare and grabbed Edd by his wrist, "I don't give a shit, Princess! I'm not done with you yet. You're little display had gotten me hard and it's only fair if you returned the favor and take care of it." Matthew lifted up Edd onto his shoulder after he stood up like Edd was a human trophy or as if he were a stereotypical Neanderthal and Edd was his newly captured woman. Edd felt rather undignified being lifted up like that.

As Matthew carried him into the bedroom, Edd thrashed around, "put me down this instant! I'm not an invalid that can't stand and walk. Put me down!"

"Shut the fuck up!" Matthew shouted, causing Edd to tremble at the volume and tone of Matthew's voice.

Edd was carried into Matthew's bedroom and was thrown onto the waterbed none too gently. Edd heard Matthew groan out in pain. Due to the injury Matthew gotten four years previously from Kevin, Matthew was unable to lift more than a certain amount without injuring his back. Edd silently hope Matthew was in enough pain to prevent the man from doing whatever he had planned for Edd, but fate was never kind to the twenty year old.

Edd flailed around, struggling with his binds. His naked back and ass was vulnerable to Matthew's voracious sexual appetite. His bound wrists made it difficult to turn over onto his back. He heard the sounds of Matthew's boxers shuffling as Matthew stripped out of them. The bed dipped from Matthew's weight as Matthew mounted it. Matthew crawled on top of Edd, his dick was inches from touching Edd's ass and his chest hair tickled Edd's upper back. Matthew nipped Edd's ear as he pressed his dick into the crevice of Edd's bare ass.

Matthew made a small husky sound from his throat at the contact. Matthew rutted away on top of Edd, repeatedly pressed his cock between Edd's ass cheeks without penetrating him. Matthew was only half aroused from the repeated contact. Edd would've asked Matthew if he was having performance anxiety if the man wasn't such in an unhinged state of mind. Matthew's actions only cemented the suspicions Edd had about something happening and Matthew using sex to forget about whatever he was currently upset about. After rutting against Edd, Matthew finally became erect. The twenty eight year old spit into his palm and coated his erection with it.

Just as Matthew parted Edd's cheeks, the twenty year old twisted around, trying to get away from Matthew. Matthew growled in annoyance at his delayed gratification and Edd pleaded with Matthew once more, "Matthew, I don't consent to your actions. Please take my feelings into consideration before you do anything. Please!"

"Listen, Princess, I've had a shitty fucking day and then I have to come home and deal with your nagging. Fuck you! How the fuck is that fair to me?" Matthew pressed the tip of his saliva-coated cock to Edd's anal cavity and shoved it in without warning. "You owe this to me, Princess. I've done quite a bit for you since I came home and this right here is all I need in return from you."

Edd whined when he was penetrated, but dared not to cry out from his intrusion. "Please, Matthew. Whatever is upsetting you, we can talk about it. Just please calm down."

Matthew ignored him and begun thrusting inside of Edd. The lack of lubrication plus Matthew's hard thrusts made the experience uncomfortable, but Edd was grateful that Matthew at least used lubricant. Matthew trailed his finger along Edd's bound wrists while his dick slides back and forth inside of Edd. In Matthew's eyes Edd's body belonged to him. He knew it and Edd knew it.

Skin slapped against skin as Matthew repeatedly slammed his hips into Edd's. Edd choked out a few moans when Matthew's harsh thrusts brushed against his sensitive prostate. Matthew was buried inside of him to the hilt. Matthew's callused hands kept their hold onto Edd's delicate wrists. Matthew's husky groans and Edd's quiet gasps filled the room.

"Ah fuck! That's right, Princess. Take it all in! Damn, you still feel so good. You're getting off to this, aren't you? Tell me how much you like this, Princess." Matthew moaned huskily as he continued to rock them both on the waterbed.

Pleasurable tingles throughout Edd's body made Edd give in to Matthew yet again, "This f-feels extremely pleasurable, Matthew! You – You are truly an expert when it comes to giving – oh lord! You're good at giving me sexual pleasure!"

Edd's words were not completely to soothe the savage beast. Part of Edd really enjoyed the rough treatment, despite Matthew's disregard for the concept of consent in this situation. Edd was not even sure if the situation could be counted as rape. The lines of consent were completely blurred to the younger man now. Edd was too wrapped up in Matthew's coils to consider drawing the line between consensual and nonconsensual.

Matthew let out a satisfied growl and nipped the back of Edd's neck, his hands still tightly wrapped around Edd's wrists. Sometime after a few thrusts, Matthew jabbed Edd's prostate and Edd met his release, feeling the familiar stickiness underneath him. The saliva that served as lubricant was starting to run thin, but that hardly mattered.

Matthew's uneven breaths and sporadic thrusts indicated that he was reaching his climax. Matthew gave a few final thrusts before he plunged his dick as far as it go inside of Edd and came deep inside of Edd's ass. "Princess!" He cried out as he reached his orgasm. Edd felt the man's semen coat his insides, claiming him as Matthew quietly pulled out.

Edd's wrists were finally released from their binds when Matthew gathered his bearings. The twenty year old rubbed his sore wrists as Matthew collapsed beside him, still breathless from his orgasm. Matthew buried his face into Edd's chest like an insecure child and wrapped his arms around Edd's thin frame. "Why – why can't I ever escape him, Edd?"

Edd did not know the answer to Matthew's question or who Matthew was even talking about. Edd was determined to solve the riddle once he could safely withdraw from Matthew's arms, which would not be any time soon. Edd just allowed himself to be held and pondered over his next course of actions in solving the enigma known only as Matthew McGee.


	19. Pictures from the Past

He trembled as his mask came off. The sickening smell of aftershave and sweat radiated off of the man that removed his mask. He felt the similar yet different sensation of fear that he felt when his dad would treat him and his mom like a pair of human punching bags. Now the proof of his dad's abuse was exposed to his friends and this terrifying stranger.

Seth wanted to vomit when the man called Theodore "Ted" Luster grabbed him in an area that he had yet touched himself and kissed him like he was Ted's girlfriend. Whatever was happening, Seth wanted to take the others and escape from this nightmare, but he knew from experience that he would just get abused further if he dared to make a run for it.

Then the monstrous man pulled away and looked at him like he was a broken object that was put on display at some flea market. "I don't understand why anyone would want to leave ugly bruises on children; it's just like throwing black paint on the Mona Lisa," Ted uttered. He might as well have been a broken object instead of an abused child in Ted's eyes.

It was even worse when Ted forced Matthew to molest him like Ted had done. He could feel the bile rising in his throat when Matthew forced his lips upon his own and groped on him with noticeable inexperience. His pleads to Matthew to stop did not have any impact on the other boy in the slightest, despite Seth's hope that Matthew could get them out of the situation.

Seth had awoken from his bed with a jolt. Cold sweat beaded down his body as his heart hammered in his chest. Nancy slept beside him, thankfully undisturbed. She was always a heavy sleeper. Seth even made jokes that Nancy could sleep through an earthquake or tornado. The dream was still fresh in his mind. It rattled him to the core of how much the memory of Ted Luster still affected him in the present.

A wave of nausea suddenly hit him and he rushed to the bathroom that adjoined his and Nancy's bedroom. In front of the toilet was a corkboard with various pictures. One was of him, Nancy, and Raven when Raven was just a baby. Another was during a Halloween party during the late nineties when Matthew wore a bluish silver butt-less jumpsuit like an obscene spaceman. He quickly dropped down in front of the toilet and let out a dry heave.

He had spent hunched over a toilet countless times when he was addicted to heroin. It was times like this when he wished he could do heroin and forget his past, but he would rather not plunge back into that hellhole again. Withdrawal was the most difficult part of quitting heroin. The seizures and the putrid smell and taste of vomit were guaranteed when someone is on smack.

After he was done vomiting, his cell phone rang. Seth grimaced when he heard the high-pitched ringtone echo through his bedroom. Nancy would sleep through it, but it still got on Seth's nerves. He reached over and answered it, glancing at the digital clock. It was 2 a.m. in morning. "What do you want, you asshole? Do you know what time it is?" Seth groaned, not wanting to deal with anyone this early in the morning. Especially after the dream he had.

"Wake up, you douche! You remember that promise you made, right?" Matthew's voice came from the other end of the receiver, loud and clear.

Seth pinched the bridge of his nose, "yes, I remember what I promised. Would it kill you to call me at a decent hour? I woke up and instantly got sick."

"Are you shooting up again?" Matthew retorted.

Seth sneered. "Fuck you! I just had a nightmare and it was a pretty bad one."

"Ah, I'm sowwy." Matthew mocked. "Am I supposed to go back on a promise that we made in high school because you had a bad dream?"

"You're a real dick sometimes." Seth was starting to get irritated at Matthew's callous disregard to his current emotional state.

Matthew snorted audibly through the other end, "-And you and Lucas are complete pussies, but you know what? At least my so-called character flaw is going to help us make Ted motherfucking Luster pay for what he had fucking done. Tell me, are you going to help me give Ted what he rightfully deserves or are you going to chicken out on me?"

"I'm going to help you." Seth replied, meekly, "It'll just be first thing in the morning before I can arrive. I still have an appointment at 12 today, so I'm not going to be there for long. I'll probably be there around six at earliest."

"That's fine with me. All we're going to do is brainstorm ways which Ted Luster gets what's coming to him." Matthew replied, sounding pleased with Seth's answer. "Relax; we ain't going to murder the douchebag. What good would the plan be if Ted isn't alive to remember not to fuck with me – with us!"

"Is it too late to-" Seth stopped himself abruptly to prevent himself from having Matthew pound on his front door and wake almost everyone in the house.

"Too late for what, Seth?" Seth cringed at the harshness of Matthew's voice.

Seth shook his head. "Nothing, man. See you at six." He quickly hung up the phone and wondered if he was making a gigantic mistake.

Edd groaned when he felt hands upon the sensitive flesh between his legs. Edd groaned and turned over. The groping continued. First his legs were squeezed by rough, mischievous hands. Then his thighs became the victim of rough touches. Groggily, Edd peered over at the clock near the eight ball on the nightstand. 3:15 in bright neon red flashed in front of his face. "Would it kill you to attempt to have a decent sleep schedule?"

"Fuck no. I don't have time for any of that bullshit therapy crap that they are trying to push on people. I mean I only have a few hours to do whatever I want to you. Why waste time sleeping?" Matthew replied without a bit of sympathy for Edd's desire to sleep.

Edd had to think of a way to get out of having to become the man's personal sex toy again. He was sore and tired enough from Matthew's frequent sexual cravings. He thought about it for a moment before his thoughts were interrupted with Matthew shoving his crotch in his face. "I'm much too exhausted to further exert myself in any further sexual activity. If you wait patiently, I'll be able to do whatever you want later on tomorrow, eh, tonight."

"Anything I want?" Matthew looked extremely pleased with Edd's answer. "Alright Princess, I'm holding you to it."

Edd's relief ended as soon as it began. There was no telling what kind of perversities Matthew had in mind and Edd was certain that he did not want to find out. He instantly regretted his words. Matthew was acting like he never had a breakdown just a mere few hours ago. `Why can't I escape him?' Those words were uncommonly vulnerable for a man that took pride in being sadistic and macho. Matthew was like an Armadillidiida; he curled himself into a tough psychological ball as a defense mechanism. Edd was determined to find out who harmed the man, whether or not Matthew wanted his help.

The sight of Matthew's clothes hitting the floor broke Edd from his thoughts. Matthew was shedding himself from his clothes and his hat. Edd almost gasped, assuming that Matthew was prematurely going to "hold" Edd to his word. However, Matthew fished around his dresser drawer and pulled out a few hygiene products. Cheap brand name cologne, a bar of soap, and cheap "masculine" shampoo were seized as Matthew exited out of the room. One of those three items was also the scent that Edd often pinpointed as one of the scents that made the man smell sleazy; the cheap name brand cologne that made the man smell like a shady individual that sells drugs to children or creeps on unsuspecting individuals.

Edd stretched and reached over to grab the brown cap that the man wore constantly from the floor. If Edd had to put an age upon the item, he would guess it to be as old as his parents would be. Where did Matthew acquire the hat in the first place? Edd's first guess that the hat was found in the garbage. He flipped the hat and found an old name tag stitched to the inside of the cap that read `Roy Lovering.' "Well, that proves that his hand was a hand-me-down or at least had a previous owner."

Edd avidly looked at an old photo album that sat on top of a box. "I suppose a quick peek wouldn't hurt." Edd replied to no one in particular. The red photo album was quite old and looked worn from constant use. Edd lifted himself from the bed and headed towards the album. He then flipped to a random page showing a man that was either in his mid-thirties to mid-forties. The man in the photo gestured his hand towards his head, mimicking shooting himself in the head with a handgun. Edd couldn't place what about that particular that sent a chill crawling down his spine. The gesture was a common one to represent boredom or annoyance. Perhaps it was the look in the man's eyes that suggested that he was not all there psychologically or the arsenal of guns behind him.

Whatever it was, Edd was taken aback. The man himself was dressed like an urban soldier. Dark blonde locks cascaded down the man's head past his ears. The man's upper body was slender, but was still toned. The top part of the man's head was covered by a familiar looking brown cap; the same brown cap that Matthew wore in the present. The Polaroid picture itself was fading and looked to have been taken place in a time period that Edd hardly remembered if he was even born when the picture was taken.

Edd must have been looking at the picture for quite some time, because Matthew's voice startled him, almost causing him to drop the photo album. "What the hell are you doing? What the fuck are you going through my shit for?"

"Oh – Oh Matthew, I was just hoping to see old pictures of you from back when you were a youth." Edd lied, visibly shaking. "T-that was my only intention."

Matthew only snorted at Edd's response. "Stay the fuck out of my shit unless you want all of your damn fingers broke."

"That would hardly be necessary." Edd gulped. He let out a yelp when Matthew yanked the photo album out of his arms. Matthew, still soaked from the shower, sat upon his bed and glanced at the same photo Edd was looking at a second ago. A rare expression appeared on Matthew's face. Could it have been sadness? The moment did not last long when Matthew threw the photo album in a corner of the room.

Edd caught himself staring as Matthew removed the towel that barely clung to Matthew's waist and wiped down the water that dripped down his soaked body. He had seen Matthew naked numerous times, but that never made Edd comfortable at the sight of the man's nudity. More than likely, the discomfort was due to what his nudity almost always led to. He didn't know if he feared or shamefully craved Matthew like an illegal drug.

Matthew noticed Edd staring and smirked. "What? You want some more, Princess? We could fuck right now before Lucas and Seth show up or when they arrive. I wouldn't mind them hearing your cute little screams from downstairs. Hell, we could even do it in the living room right when those two douchebags walk in. I can't fuck you for long though since I need to talk to them about some shit."

"That – that would not be – I have some things I would like to accomplish before we do anything like that." Edd stumbled upon his words, tongue-tied from the salacious suggestion. "That is within a private place and preferably without an audience." Edd added.

As Edd left the room, he heard Matthew reply back. "Suit yourself."

What he had told Matthew had not been a complete lie. He had more pressing matters to deal with. Edd was determined to find out more about the man in the photo. The only things he had were a face and a name; Roy Lovering. He was puzzled on where to begin his search. An online search into the man's criminal background and the section of the library reserved for old newspapers seemed like great places to begin his search.


	20. Planning

Matthew stared at the blue shed for a few hours in the early morning with a cigarette and a beer in his hand. Cell phones were a useful invention that Matthew grew to love, especially when it came down to reminding his friends about the meeting. He probably should have done it at Lucas' house, but he didn't feel like getting in a car at the moment. Plus, Edd headed out at five in the morning. Matthew couldn't really bother to care where Edd was going. Not when he had plans of his very own that he needed accomplished without Edd being present in the household.

The thoughts of what happened years ago plagued his mind. Ted was in town. Knowing Ted, he would be back to luring in children to his house for sexual purposes. The fact that Ted would be back to his old tricks didn't bother Matthew as much as it probably should have. Why take out one pedophile when there's billion more just like him? Matthew might have been like Ted in some ways, given Matthew's attraction to Edd even back before Edd was old enough to drive. To Matthew, it was more personal. The man emasculated and humiliated him years ago. That was something Matthew would never forgive him for. Something that Matthew would seek out revenge for.

His thoughts then drifted to a conversation he had with Lucas on the phone. Apparently, it was easy to find out where a registered sex offender lived, so much so that even inbred hicks could do it. Matthew didn't know a single thing about computers, but he's sure that he could get Lucas or Seth to look for him. Getting revenge might actually be easier than he anticipated.

Once he crept back inside, he spent the remainder of his time mindlessly playing video games. He mindless drove his stolen pixelated sports car and ran over pixelated people on the beach with it. He listened to one of the radio stations on the game that played hard rock on its station - or as the kids that didn't grow up listening to it would call it, classic rock. Goddamn, he was starting to feel old.

He was so immersed with his video game that he didn't even hear Seth and Lucas let themselves into the house. He jolted when Seth replied. "It would be a lot more challenging to shoot the people with a gun. Plus, you wouldn't have the 5-0 as quickly on your ass as you do now."

"How do you even get a gun on this retarded game?" Matthew asked with groan.

"If you picked it up already, it should be in your inventory. Press R2 to see if you've got it." Seth instructed. "If not, you got to kill a gang member to get it."

Matthew threw the control in frustration. "You know what? Fuck this game! I got better things to do."

While Seth stepped towards the TV to shut off the TV and the Playstation, Lucas flopped down on the chair with a amber clear liquid inside of a plastic cup with the logo of a high-end coffee shop. The kind of coffee shop where only simpleminded uppity brats go to pay for overpriced coffee. Lucas took one look at gray munchkin nearby and waved his free arm at it. "Go away, you stupid cat. God, why do people even get cats in the first place? They're messy and they stink like a foul beast." Lucas huffed and took one sip of drink. Niels Bohr the cat didn't move an inch. "So why the fuck did you call us here anyway, Mattie? I doubt it's to look at what your brother and ex consider good feng shui."

"Gentlemen, I do believe that it is time to discuss important matters. Most importantly, what do about Ted Luster." Matthew announced grimly. "It's time to repay the bastard back for years of making us weak, cowardly pussies. For taking away something that I don't even know existed or not."

Lucas nearly choked on his drink and Seth looked around with the look of a paranoid man. Ted Luster was a name that was barely spoken between the three and when the subject did come up, it lead to an uncomfortable conversation. Seth finally spoke quietly. "Is your brother or what's-his-name here?"

"We're alone, you sissy." Matthew confirmed. He looked around at his friends, noticing that they both looked uncomfortable. He scowled and shouted. "C'mon on you big babies! Don't tell me you're backing out on me!"

"Matthew . . ." A long pause followed afterward. Seth struggled to come up with the words to say to Matthew next, to reason with Matthew. "Wouldn't . . . Wouldn't it be better to come clean to the cops. Give his name to the cops and let the courts handle him? I mean, the general population of a prison would destroy him for us. A pedophile is a constant target for every other prisoner in a jail. In fact, I think beating up or killing a pedo is considered a bragging right there."

"Oh yeah, let Ted sit in a nice cozy cell that our tax dollars pay for, because our prison coddles them. Give me a fucking break! Sex offenders are isolated from the rest of the prisoners. All because our pussy government doesn't want them to die under their care. Yeah, seriously. He's not going to learn not to fuck with me when he's living the high life in prison." Matthew glared from Seth to Lucas. "Don't tell me you shitheads are seriously thinking about turning your backs on our promise now?"

It was Lucas' turn to speak. "To be honest, I thought that we would never see Ted again when I made that promise."

"Same here," Seth chimed in. "It's easier to make the promise when I thought I would never have to follow through with it. I only reminded you of the promise to calm your ass down yesterday. Besides you seen what I've seen at the gas station, Ted doesn't even recognize us. How do we even know he's moved back or if he's just visiting?"

"That's why I need one of you two to look him up on one of those sex offender sites." Matthew then decided to manipulate them. Sway them to his side. "You know, Seth, Ted's out there hunting for new children to lure into his home . . ."

"Matthew, don't," Seth warned weakly.

"One of those children could be Raven . . . How do you think she would fare if Ted lured her in with a new toy or a candy bar. You know, a little girl and a little boy look very similar in body shape. He could easy pretend she was a little boy. Do you want what happened to you or me, better yet, to happen to her." Matthew said smoothly without a trace of emotion on his face.

"Goddamn it, Matthew." Seth ran his fingers through his hair and breathed unevenly. Matthew could tell that Seth was imagining that happening to his daughter and knew that the possibility ate up the tattoo artist. "No seriously, fuck you, Matthew!" Seth hissed at him, venomously. "Fuck you for even saying that."

"So are you going to help me get revenge?" Matthew pressed, knowingly.

"Yes, I will." Seth relented.

Matthew grinned triumphantly and then turned to Lucas. "What about you, Lucas? Got any more complaints or do I need to bring out a knife to convince you?"

"No need." Lucas choked, waving his arms around. "I'll help you get revenge. I'm just wondering what you got planned if you're not planning on killing Ted."

"I'm planning on torturing the prick." Matthew replied, simply, as if he were asked the weather. "I'll need a device to strap him into, I'll need a ball gag to shut him up, I'll need a quiet place to torture him at, and I'll need weapons to torture him with."

"We could use his old address at Blood Point. That place is deserted now. Plus there's no houses nearby it." Seth suggested.

"That's not a bad idea." Matthew nodded. "What about device to attach his dumbass to?"

"I have some old workout equipment that's been collecting dust. The thing practically looks like one of those racks that were used to torture people back in the day. You could attach a chain or handcuffs to it to hold Ted in place."

Matthew nodded. "That just might work. I'll worry about the chains, handcuffs, and the rest of the shit. Seth, I'm going to need you to get an old tattooing equipment that you're not using at the moment."

"Sure, I can do that." Seth nodded reluctantly. "How will we know when it's time to do the deed?"

Matthew shrugged. "I'll worry about that when I get to it. For now, we're piecing our plan together. We're also gonna need roofies."

"I could get some from a club that is outside of town." Lucas replied. "They pass out roofies and ecstasy like it's candy."

Matthew yawned a bit and stretched. "Okay good."

After a while of casual conversation and playing video games, the three kicked back in the living room furniture and relaxed. "I've got to tell your brother to hire a new home decorator. Speaking of which, where is your little boytoy?"

"How in the hell should I know. He took off this morning and hasn't been back since." Matthew shrugged. "He'll be back later."

Seth then pointed out, "So you are fucking him again. The guy in the sockhat. What was his name . . . Edd."

"Whatever gave you that idea, Seth?" Matthew asked coyly.

"You didn't correct Lucas on the boytoy comment." Seth responded. "-But seriously, why would you fuck your brothers lover? That seems kind of trashy."

"It's Pipsqueak who's the trashy one. I only took back what was already mine to begin with." Matthew objected. "Once I fucked Princess a few times when he was still jailbait, it was easy to get him on board with sleeping with me again even after so many years of no-action. Plus it was easy, because of Pipsqueak neglecting his sexual needs and all."

"Yeah, you're welcome about that." Lucas rolled his eyes.

Matthew snorted. "Yeah right, you've been having Pipsqueak do slave labor to suit your own bullshit needs. So what's been going on? Does Pipsqueak owe you money or something?"

"You could be psychic with how much you know." Lucas grinned. "Yes, he does owe me money. Let's just say that I helped him pay off the payments for the car lot and now I'm just collecting what I owe plus interest. It's been adding some change to my pockets for a while now."

"I had my suspicions." Matthew shrugged. "I don't give a rat's ass though. It's been keeping Pipsqueak out of the picture and that's always a good thing. The sex has been hotter than the sex I had with him when he was sixteen. I could get him to do anything I wanted unlike before and kinky sex isn't out of the question."

"Hotter? Like how?" Lucas asked.

Seth slapped his own forehead. "You did not just seriously just ask that, Lucas."

"What's wrong, Seth? Never did anything kinky with that ex-stripper of yours? I bet she probably gives you some good head if what they say about strippers is true." Matthew mocked. "Seriously, I got Princess to fuck himself on a vibrator for me."

"Shut the fuck up, you sick bastard." Seth scowled. "Too much information that I didn't need to hear. Plus, keep your nasty mouth shut about my damn wife or I'll kick your ass."

"Yeah, I've beaten your ass so many times that your threats are meaningless." Matthew mocked with a shit-eating grin.

Seth was more than just a bit miffed at Matthew's words. "Just keep your mouth shut about my wife."

"You're pussy-whipped. I keep telling you." Matthew said, in a singsong voice.

Seth then added, "And you sleep with anything with two legs, but we all have our faults."


	21. Information

The Peach Creek public library has always held a special significance to Edd. He could really be at home amongst all of the books filled with adventure, romance, and most importantly, knowledge. Now the library holds possible information he needed to probe into Matthew's life. He had to begin his search somewhere.

Ed tagged along for the search. He wasn't sure how much help Ed would be in the situation, but he needed someone with him for emotional support. Ed most likely would frequent the comic book section of the library while Edd used the newspaper section of the library, but that was okay with the twenty year old.

"Double D, what are we doing here?" Ed asked looking around with a large goofy smile plastered across his face.

"We're here to research, Ed." Edd reminded Ed. "You can read the comic books in the comic book section while I research in another part in the library."

"But Double D!" Ed whined. "What if I really want to read the comic book more and I run out of time."

"Then you go to the librarian and request a library card." Edd explained. There was some things that had to be explained to Ed as if they had to explain to a child. Lovable oaf.

As soon as they both walked into the library, Edd led Ed to the comic book section. "There we go. If you need anything, Ed. I'll be nearby."

Edd gave one final wave to Ed and headed to the newspaper room. The movies he watched with Eddy always made researching newspapers look so easy, but it was grueling work. It took hours of digging through old newspapers just to find what you are looking for. This was not going to be an easy feat.

As he begun to open one of newspapers, he begun to question. What if the name in the hat was in no way affiliated with Matthew? How would he find out who the person in the photo was? Matthew was not going to offer up any information. He could ask Sasha, but he wasn't sure if Sasha would offer any new information either. About an hour into researching old newspapers, Edd had fallen asleep at the desk.

Edd had found himself back at that old whale trailer that Matthew had owned years ago. He moved his arms to get a good look at them, but screamed in shock at when he got a good look at what he wore. It was a yellow label with the words 'Matthew's Whore' written on it. He was also surprised to find himself wearing the same clothes he wore when he was only twelve years old.

Across from him was Matthew smirking at him. The man looking the same as he did when Edd first met him. The only difference between his memory of what happened eight years ago and this particular scene is that Ed, Eddy, and the cul-de-sac kids were missing. It was just him and Matthew there.

"Well, well, if this doesn't take us back, Princess." Matthew spoke. "You look as good then as you do now. If the brats didn't intervene, I would've took your virginity then and you and I both know it to be true. You were my whore when I first laid eyes on you and you are my whore now, rather you believe it or not."

As Matthew approached, Edd stepped back. "Listen, Matthew, you're not your abuser. Even in that slimy, vile dark heart of yours, you wouldn't molest a child."

"Who said I wouldn't?" Matthew asked rhetorically as he caught up to Edd and lifted Edd up like a ragdoll. Matthew begun to carry Edd into the trailer with Edd kicking and screaming for Matthew to put him down.

"I don't consent! Put me down. Put me down!" Edd screamed. Then he awoke from his nightmare, drenched in cold sweat. He was laying on top of a pile of newspapers on the desk he was doing research on.

"I have got to get those dreams under control." Edd muttered to himself and continued his research, still feeling groggy from the nap. He rubbed at his eyes, trying to wake up from his nap. He briefly called out to Ed to see if the big lug was still in the library. Once he heard Ed's voice, he got back to his research.

After a while, Edd exclaimed. "There you are!" It was an obituary for Roy Lovering. The guy in the grainy black and white picture matched that to the guy in the picture. As Edd skimmed through the obituary, he read part of it aloud. "Roy Lovering . . . Died at the age 44 in 1992. . ." That would've made Matthew just twelve years old when Roy died. "Survived by his sister Joyce Lovering and nephew Seth Lovering . . ." Edd pondered where he had heard the name Seth Lovering. It was very familiar. Then an image of dark hair and tattoos came to his head. It was him, Matthew's friend Seth. Roy Lovering was his uncle.

Edd then probed a little deeper and read a paper from a couple of days before the obituary was published and found Roy Lovering's name mentioned again. He read the article aloud. "Body found near Rethink Avenue . . . Body of 44 year old Roy Lovering was found in the woods near Rethink Avenue . . . Body discovered by two children playing in the woods . . . Coroners ruled the death a suicide by a self-inflicted gunshot wound . . ." Edd then committed on what he just read. "Oh my! How horrible."

Edd then read one last article that he found on Roy Lovering, still thinking about the previous article while he read the final article that took place weeks ago before Roy's suicide. Roy Lovering had caused a scene at a bar and had to be escorted off the property by police. It was the same bar that Matthew took him to. Edd pondered if anyone at the bar would recognize Roy's Lovering's name. The bartender looked old enough to have been serving at that bar for as long as Edd had been alive. Maybe the bartender could give him some information on Roy Lovering. That bar would be his next stop.

Once Edd made his way out of the newspaper room, he found Ed in the children's reading circle, reading one of his comic books and miming what was happening in the comic book. Edd didn't know rather to laugh or scold Ed for his shenanigans.

"Sir! Sir! That is not appropriate reading material for our small kids. Please go and take that trash book with you." The librarian scolded Ed.

"But I read it when I was a kid. Please! The kids were laughing." Ed pleaded with the librarian. Edd noted that the kids were laughing before the librarian showed up, possibly entertained by Ed's antics.

"No! Go!" The librarian pointed straight ahead of her to indicate that she didn't want Ed in the kid's reading room; The room surrounded by half-walls, all except for the main wall which contained a backdrop of painted trees and animals.

Ed slouched like a dog that got caught chewing up the newspaper and walked out of the reading room with comic book in hand. "It's not fair!"

"Cheer up, Ed. You can still read a comic book to your child when they come into this world." Edd patted his friend on the back. "I still have one more thing I need to do. Would you like to come with me?"

Ed grinned and shook his head eagerly.

The ride to the bar wasn't too bad. The traffic was decent. On the plus side, Ed was pretty chipper. Once Edd reached the bar, he parked his car in the parking lot. The bar was still as shady as Edd remembered it to be. He really didn't want to come back to this bar, but he had no choice.

"Why did we come here? Bars are so lame!" Ed complained. "Nothing but people drinking and watching some lame sport. Bars are bad for Ed!"

Edd sighed. "I just need to get some information. It won't take long."

Ed pouted, but still came along with him inside of the bar. The bar sure had a lot of intimidating bikers that night. The bikers were acting rowdy and chugging down beer like it was going to disappear. Along with bikers were prostitutes. Edd could hear the women peddling their services to the clientele. He wasn't sure if it was a good idea to come back to this bar. Hell, he wasn't sure if it was a good idea to bring Ed along.

Edd made his way to the bar and grabbed a few napkins to place in his seat. With the napkins in place, he quickly sat down. He drummed his fingers on the bar. He noticed the same bartender from the last time he was there. The bartender had a cigar between his lips and was pouring someone else a whiskey.

"Excuse me, sir. I need to talk to you for a moment if you don't mind." Edd tried to get the bartender's attention. "I'm looking for information on someone."

The bartender sneered at him. "What are you? A cop?"

"No, no. I'm just looking for information on someone." Edd corrected.

The bartender didn't look fazed. "Look, if you want my information, Nancy-boy, you're going to have do a few things around here."

Edd did not like the sound of that, but despite his intuition telling him to remove himself and Ed from the situation, he had to get that information. He wasn't sure, but he was sure that Roy Lovering, Seth's uncle, had touched Matthew. He just needed something connecting Roy to Matthew, besides the picture. "W-what would I have to do?" Edd asked meekly.

"Nothing too demanding." The old, intimidating bartender replied. Edd had a stray thought that the bartender looked to have some Italian or Sicilian ancestry. The balding dark hair and pale complexion of the bartender reminded Edd of the jolly pasta chefs in movies, except the man was much more scary. "You just need to pay for a couple of drinks, pay my boys $15 for a joint, and sing some karaoke on that machine over there." The man pointed his fat fingers towards the karaoke machine at one side of the bar. "That costs money too, but my information ain't cheap."

"A joint? You mean I have to pay for marijuana?" Edd exclaimed. "Also, I'm not really into the music that came out within the last century. I'm more into classical music. Although I do enjoy some jazz music."

The bartender looked disinterested in what he had to say. "Listen, Nancy-boy, I'll pick the fricking song. You just pay for a joint and some drinks and don't just pay for them and leave them either. You gotta smoke the dope and drink the drinks, capisce?"

"Understood. Can I have one drink and then pay for another drink when we talk about the person I'm looking for?" Edd asked.

The bartender shrugged. "I don't see why not."

"Fine." Edd sighed. "I'll order prune juice and vodka." Edd watched as the bartender poured him a screwdriver. "That's not what I ordered."

"Too bad, Nancy-boy. I'll get you the correct drink when we talk about whatever you want to talk about. That'll be $8 by the way. Also, that would be 5 dollars to use the karaoke machine." The bartender replied, coldly. "Now get your ass on the karaoke machine. I have a bunch of boys that need entertainment."

Edd quickly paid the bartender and carried the drink to a table with a bunch of bikers. He was surprised to see Ed about to engage a strong looking biker in a game of arm wrestling. "Hiya Double D!" Ed greeted.

Edd greeted Ed back with a wave of his hand and cleared his throat. "Excuse me, gentlemen. May I purchase a marijuana joint from one of you?"

The bikers looked at him harshly like a bug that needed to be squashed. One biker with a long beard snorted. "Alright, Prissy-boy. That would be 15 bucks." The biker pulled out a joint from his jacket pocket. Edd quickly paid for the joint and tucked the joint into his ear.

When Edd reached the karaoke machine, the bartender was already setting it up for him. "There you go, Nancy-boy, the machine is all ready for you." The bartender headed back to his post. Edd quickly looked to see what the bartender had chosen him to play and didn't know the song at all. It was some song called 'Cradle of Love' by Billy Idol. He hoped for the sake of his health that the song wasn't derogatory. 'This is for information. This is for information.' Edd chanted the mantra in his head as he pressed play on the machine.

The beginning of song started off innocently. Well, maybe not so innocently, since Edd knew what "rocking the cradle" meant. Edd turned bright red when he had to sing the following lyrics. "It burned like a ball on fire. When the rebel took a . . . little child bride. To tease, yeah, so go easy, yeah."

Edd carried on with the filthy and vile song, imagining that someone like Matthew would find the song enjoyable. His face got even redder when he had to sing. "Yeah, flesh for your Romeo. Ah yeah, baby! I hear you moan. It's easy, y'know how to please me, yeah." After those initial shocks, Edd was able to finish the song. He hoped that he would never hear that song again in his lifetime.

"The use of the word 'love' in that song was a joke. The song was just about preying upon a younger person." Edd complained. The song wasn't derogatory, but it was disturbing to Edd. His downed the remainder of his drink before he headed back to the bar.

He heard Ed shout. "You did great, Double D!"

"Thanks Ed," Edd replied back and he took his seat back at the bar. He could hear the bikers laugh and hoped it wasn't at him.

The bartender made no comment on his performance. "Ain't ya going to smoke your joint?"

Edd had completely forgot about that. "Yeah, thanks. Got a lighter?" As the bartender handed him a lighter, he lit up the end of the joint and took a puff from it. He nearly choked on the smoke as he settled back into the bar stool. The bartender mixed prune juice with vodka and handed the glass to him. "That'll be another eight dollars."

Edd fished the money out of his wallet and gave it to the bartender. "So, what do you know about Roy Lovering? I have heard somewhere that he attended this bar."

"Roy Lovering? You mean, 'Crazy Roy?' He's been dead for fifteen years. What do you want to know about him for?" The bartender asked.

Edd quickly replied. "I think I know someone that might have knew him when he was still alive. I've read somewhere that he caused a scene in this bar before his untimely passing. I was just wondering what you knew about that."

"Hmm, a scene here fifteen years ago. You're going to have to forgive an old-timer, it's been years." The bartender looked lost in thought. "Oh yeah, now I remember. Roy was going to kill a son of a bitch that was harassing one of the girls. You know, one of the working girls. Roy always had a soft spot for women, especially prostitutes. Well, some narc called the cops and the coppers took Roy to jail for the night."

"I see." Edd nodded and then asked. "Has he ever brought anyone with him to the bar?"

"He's brought a few cougars to the bar with him. You know, women past their prime who can still get their choice in men." The bartender recalled. "Besides them, he also brought two different kids into the bar with him. One of the kids was a regular tubby and the other one was a beanpole who wore a medical mask. In fact, I think I still have a picture of him with one of kids . . ." The bartender turned around and started looking through old polaroids that were on the wall in front of the bar until he found the one he was looking for. The bartender set the photo in front of Edd.

There was Roy Lovering, having himself a glass of an amber colored alcoholic beverage, looking annoyed that he was having his picture taken. Next to him, was Matthew with a can of pop beside him, looking like he was having the time of his life. Edd had gotten the answer to his question on who Roy Lovering was.

"Thank you." Edd replied. He finished his drink and left a tip for the bartender. He headed to where Ed was and noticed all of the ten dollar bills sticking out of Ed's pockets. "Hey, Double D, I won $100."

"That's nice, Ed." Edd replied, assuming that Ed won that money from arm wrestling those bikers. "I'm ready to head home. You're going to have to drive me home if you don't mind."

"Okey Dokey Smokey!" Ed replied, cheerfully. "That was fun for Ed."

As Edd stumbled his way to the car, he mind was swimming with the information he just gotten. Roy had to have been the one to have raped Matthew. Who else would have done something like that? Who else would not see the inappropriateness of taking children to a bar with bikers and prostitutes of all places? As he gotten into the passenger's seat, Edd pondered if he should ask Matthew about Roy when he got home.


End file.
